All Whites v England: Fifa World Cup warm-up against Harry Kane, England stars could shape NZ campaign

Only 13 New Zealand footballers know what it’s like to face the full England team.

That will change on Sunday as this All Whites group step out against the Three Lions in Tampa. Though most of the focus is on the upcoming Fifa World Cup, the scale of this match is hard to ignore.

For most Kiwis, playing England is as big as it gets, given the profile of the Premier League and the shared heritage of the two countries.

But it’s rare. In the 104 years since the All Whites played their first international in 1922 (versus Australia), this country has only faced the might of the Three Lions on one previous occasion – a two-match series in 1991 to celebrate New Zealand Football’s centenary.

None of the 1982 heroes got to experience facing England, nor latter-day luminaries such as Ryan Nelsen, Winston Reid, Ivan Vicelich, Vaughan Coveny and Shane Smeltz. That’s not lost on the current group, who understand the magnitude of the occasion.

“It’s going to be massive,” defender Francis de Vries told the Herald. “A huge team, big players. You watch them play on TV most weekends, so it’ll be interesting to see how it is to compete against them.”

Winger Jesse Randall echoed those thoughts.

“If I get on the field it will be pretty surreal,” Randall said. “It’s a moment that my younger self would look at and be like, ‘damn, that’s so sick, you were playing with these guys on Fifa [video games] and now you are coming up against them’.”

Even with their Arsenal players such as Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka not featuring after their Champions League final commitments, England will be full of household names.

There’s Harry Kane, arguably the most effective striker of his generation with 280 goals for Tottenham and already 146 in 147 games for Bayern Munich. There’s Jude Bellingham, a smash hit at Real Madrid since he was 20. And there’s Marcus Rashford, scorer of so many iconic goals for Manchester United and who recently completed a successful loan spell at Barcelona.

Though the All Whites will be fully focused on their individual tasks, it will be special to share the stadium with such players.

“If I see Declan Rice, I’ll say thank you for setting me up in Fantasy [Premier League] this season,” de Vries laughed. “He got me a bunch of points, so I’m pretty happy with that. Nah … but it will be surreal, man, it’ll be cool.

“You try to focus on your own game first and foremost and that’s all you are thinking about when you are out there. [But] I will definitely take a moment to enjoy it. Whether that’s on the pitch, on the bench or walking into the stadium. Even when we played against Poland, for example, there was [Robert] Lewandowski and you’re standing next to this guy going, ‘oh, damn, that’s pretty cool’.”

Defender Nando Pijnaker hasn’t followed a specific Premier League team over the years – he’s more interested in Dutch football given his family background – but admits it will be quite an experience.

“When you’re a kid these are the games and these are the players you dream of playing against – it’s pretty amazing,” Pijnaker said. “It’s not often you get to play against players of this level. It will feel pretty surreal but at the same time we want to do as well as we can against them.

“So you don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, this is Jude Bellingham next to me’ and freaking out or anything. You need to be thinking, ‘okay I want to try to perform and do as well as I can for my country’.”

Randall will adopt a similar “just another player” mantra, even if it is difficult.

“They are obviously big names,” Randall said. “But once you get on to the pitch, you forget about those things. Maybe when we arrive at the stadium but as soon as you’re on the pitch, your focus shifts and you’re locked into the game.”

But is it intimidating to face the world’s fourth-ranked team, who reached the last two European Championship finals and the 2018 World Cup semi-finals in Russia?

“I look at it as a really exciting opportunity, not so much intimidating,” Randall said. “Obviously, it’s going to be a difficult game but I see it as something that’s really exciting, something that will be a highlight of my life and something that is also a great preparation for the World Cup.”

Midfielder Joe Bell, who is expected to be back after missing the Haiti defeat on Wednesday, has the same view.

“First and foremost, it’s a great experience,” Bell said. “They are obviously unbelievable players and they’re going to make us perform at our highest level in order to compete with them, which is the exact challenge we want going into the World Cup. They are phenomenal players that are going to try and expose our weaknesses, but that’s exactly what you want going into it.”

All Whites v England

Raymond James Stadium. Tampa, Florida.

Sunday, June 7, 8am kickoff NZT.

Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.

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