New Zealand assistant Brian Turner has conceded they may not be a surprise package for the World Cup.
Assistant wants to keep side "under the radar"
New Zealand assistant Brian Turner has conceded his side may no longer be a surprise package once the World Cup begins.
The All Whites pulled off a major shock in beating highly-rated Serbia 1-0 in a warm-up friendly on Sunday that sparked all kinds of trouble from the Serbian home support.
Flares, bottles and missiles were hurled onto the pitch in disgust by the crowd as the 15th-placed side in Fifa's rankings were humbled by the 78th-placed Kiwis, who secured victory with Shane Smeltz's 22nd-minute winner.
New Zealand have not appeared at the finals since the 1982 tournament in Spain, their only other appearance at this stage, but did not win a point that year.
Turner was hopeful that they could achieve better this time round, but confessed that he wanted to play down their victory over Radomir Antic's team so they could continue their progress "under the radar" for their warm-up games to come against Slovenia and Chile before their opening game against Slovakia on 15th June.
Prepared
"We're trying to pour a little bit of cold water on to all that," Turner told
Radio Sport.
"We've spoken to the players and they are aware of our thoughts on the game and our thoughts going forward.
"We just want to take it one step at a time but it's probably fair to say we can't fly in under the radar after a performance like that.
"People will be much more aware of our strengths and probably be a bit better prepared when they do play us."
