The moment came too fast for Finn Surman to remember the script. Rising to meet a Tim Payne corner on the quarter hour of New Zealand’s Group G clash with Egypt, the central defender rose and thumped a head past Mostafa Shoebir.
It was Surman’s third international goal and one where, as he exclusively told FIFA, his pre-planned reaction got lost in the blur of the moment.
“Firstly, scoring that goal felt amazing, it was one of the highlights of my life. I was kind of thinking when the ball was coming in that it was coming to me and just wanted to focus on making sure I didn’t hit it up. When I realised I’d hit it down I was just thinking, 'Oh my god, I’ve done it, I’ve headed it down'," he said.
“Then I had a lot of people screaming in my face but I wanted to run to Tim [Payne] because he put in an amazing ball so I gave him a big hug and celebrated with the team and looked up to see my parents in the crowd.
“It meant though that the celebration didn’t happen. I had one planned out but it all went too fast... I wanted to do a knee slide, I love a good knee slide!”
The positive for Surman and his New Zealand team-mates is that they have at least one further match to get down and slide around. It is though a sudden-death one against a Belgium side that also need a win to avoid an early exit.
Having drawn their opener with IR Iran, Surman’s goal saw the All Whites lead Egypt until just shy of the hour only for three late goals to see them slump to a 3-1 defeat. That leaves them at the foot of the group and facing an almighty finale against the Belgians.
The equation is simple, with a win almost certainly enough for second-round progression. Anything less and they’ll make an early exit but, as captain Chris Wood told FIFA, that’s not an idea that has entered their thinking.
“There is 100 per cent belief. We just have to put things together for 90 minutes and believe in ourselves. We want to play positively and there is a real belief in the squad.
“We want to play good football and to try and win games in a positive manner and we have the players and team capable of doing that. If we play the way we did in the first half against Egypt and believe in ourselves then we just need to show that on the pitch.”
An Oceania powerhouse they may be but this is the just the All Whites’ third outing on the global stage. Having collected their first tournament point with that opening draw, the plan now is for nothing less than an upset win against Belgium to secure a historic maiden win, as Surman explained.
“We need to embrace the challenge, we’ve watched video on them and know their strengths and where they can hurt you, so it’s about winning our challenges and just standing up to that challenge," he said.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for any player to play against world-class players and it’s something I embrace, and we all embrace and now we just have to get stuck into it.
“We still believe 100 per cent that we can get the job done and there’s definitely things we should take confidence from over the first two games.
“If we don’t think we can win then we shouldn’t be here, so we are coming with the mentality that 100 per cent we can win this game and create history for our country.”
Sources: FIFA Official
