Bazeley said the All Whites came to the World Cup to play knockout football and have effectively been given that chance early.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t make any mistakes,\u201d Bazeley said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are too many world-class players on the pitch. If we make a mistake, we could get punished.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to have to be a perfect performance in and out of possession. We\u2019re going to have to be brave and courageous on the ball, and somebody\u2019s going to have to take a moment of quality and score a goal or two or three.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re under a bit of pressure. They\u2019ve had two draws and they\u2019re unbeaten in 15 games, so they\u2019re on a really good run, but they probably haven\u2019t fired as well as they wanted to at this World Cup. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll be fully aware that if they don\u2019t win this game, they\u2019re potentially going home as well.<\/p>\n
Kevin de Bruyne of Belgium. Photo \/ AFP<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came for knockout football and, in effect, we\u2019ve got that \u2013 it\u2019s just come a round earlier. Now we\u2019re playing knockout football, where you win or go home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bazeley is adamant captain Chris Wood will be fit to play after a late change at the pre-game press conference sparked concern.<\/p>\n
Wood was due to front the press conference, but was replaced at the last minute by vice-captain Liberato Cacace<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was a similar scenario to before the tournament, when Matt Garbett had been set to speak, but was pulled out because of an injury that ended his campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe trained fully. I\u2019d probably like to start a rumour for Belgium to think about, but nah, nah, Woodsy is fine,\u201d Bazeley said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something we do with our shared leadership. Libby is vice-captain and Woodsy had a few things he wanted to do this afternoon, and it just worked really well for us for Libby to take his place. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no story. Chris will be playing.\u201d<\/p>\n Wood is vital to the All Whites\u2019 chances of winning. While he has not found the back of the net at the tournament, he combined perfectly with Elijah Just<\/a> for his brace against Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cHe does so much hard work leading the line, but we haven\u2019t really given him the perfect service or enough chances,\u201d Bazeley said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe know when he gets a chance, he\u2019s going to score. He scores goals \u2013 it\u2019s what he does for a living.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to feed Woodsy and get him into those areas where we know he can score goals for us.\u201d<\/p>\n The All Whites are massive outsiders heading into the clash, but Bazeley knows anything is possible in football, as shown by some upset results in recent days at the World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cThis World Cup has shown there have been lots of results,\u201d Bazeley said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe watched South Africa beat South Korea<\/a> and Germany get beaten<\/a>. A team went from one point to four points and qualified.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to believe we\u2019re good enough. We have to believe we can go and get a win and achieve what we wanted to do, and that\u2019s make history by getting out of the group at a World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cThe opportunity is there for the players to go out and do exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\nElijah Just celebrates scoring his second goal against Iran. Photo \/ Getty<\/p>\n