New Zealand v Guatemala - FIFA U-20 World Cup – Group A

Saturday 20 June, 3:00pm (Local) / Sunday 21 May, 6:00am (NZ)

Estadio Santiago Del Estero, Santiago Del Estero, Argentina

There are only a few more days until the FIFA U-20 World Cup kicks off, with our U-20 team competing against some of the world’s best young players.

Off the back of an encouraging win in a warm-up friendly against Ecuador, Darren Bazeley’s side will be looking to start strongly against Guatemala come Sunday morning (or Saturday afternoon in Argentina).

The last time these two teams met ended in a win for Guatemala, during a warm up competiton for the tournament February. Our U-20’s men can expect a tough challenge once again, but not one they aren’t capable of rising to with head coach Bazeley backing the team to give a positive performance.

What Darren Bazeley said about Guatemala:
 

“The first game is vital, it's really important, as every coach always says, you go into a tournament, you’ve got to do well in your first game and get some points on the board… Guatemala knocked out Mexico and Canada, I don’t think there are any easy games. Our main aim is to put on performances that make people proud and we want to win football matches.”

Likely team:

During the most recent friendly win against Ecuador, Bazeley rotated his team to give time to all but his third goalkeeper. Bazeley noted in the pre-match press conference that “this is the deepest squad that I have ever worked with, there's two players in most positions that could do a really good job for the team and if we changed a few around it potentially wouldn't exactly weaken us”.

Key player to watch: Arquimides Ordoñez

The forward plays his club football for Major League Soccer club FC Cincinnati, and was born in the USA, playing for Cincinnati 2 before progressing to the first string. Ordoñez has 5 goals at U-20 level on the international stage and a goal in the MLS this season.

Keeping him off the score sheet and away from goal will be vital to stopping Guatemala’s impressive offense as they look to qualify out of the group for the first time since 2011.

How to watch:

Live on Sky Sport NZ from (NZ)

Article added: Friday 19 May 2023