New Zealand's Jeremy Brockie is thinking positively about his team's chances at the World Cup. The All Whites, as they are more affectionately known, are set to compete in just their second World Cup finals when the tournament proper gets under way next weekend and Brockie says the squad as a whole are employing an optimistic outlook in the hope they will take some nations by surprise.
Nobody, except themselves, expects the Kiwis to achieve much at South Africa 2010 but after a 1-0 win over Serbia last weekend, people are slowly starting to take notice.
"It was a great result for the boys against a nation that is ranked 16th in the world, It's a massive morale boost for everyone and we are all looking forward to playing Slovenia this Friday," Brockie told tribalfootball.com.
"We are getting stronger as a team and individuals as the tour goes on, we will take one game at a time. We still have two warm-up games against Slovenia and Chile and then we will concentrate more on our opponents closer to the time and how we want to go about the games."
Brockie, who switched A-League clubs from the North Queensland Fury to the Newcastle Jets earlier in the year, believes a positive mindset and the invaluable asset of having a close-knit group of players will hold the All Whites in good stead.
"Of course, you have to think positively otherwise there's no chance of succeeding," he added. "We have a great bunch of boys and management staff and we all work hard for each other and are very excited about what is in front of us for the next month and a bit.
"I think it's hard to single players out, one of our strengths is our team unity and we all work so hard for each other. We have a good blend of experience and young boys throughout our whole squad."
From a personal viewpoint, the 22-year old has enjoyed game time in the past two All White hitouts (2-1 loss to Australia, 1-0 win over Serbia) and feels he is getting fitter as he gets more minutes after breaking his leg last season.
"It's been good to get some game time against both Australia and Serbia and every little bit of game time helps towards match fitness. We have done some pretty tough training sessions also, (so) the body is coping well and will only get better and stronger as the tour goes along."
And as for representing his country on the world stage, Brockie is chuffed to bits and looking forward to providing some happiness for the people of New Zealand.
"It's been a dream and goal of mine to play for my country at a World Cup and with all the support from the NZ public I'm really looking forward to representing New Zealand at the biggest tournament in the world," he concluded.
