New Zealand meet Japan today in the round of 16 at the under-17 World Cup, and a win would mark them as the first Kiwi side to reach the quarterfinals of a World Cup.
Coach Aaron McFarland said his team was hyped up and after a training run at Monterrey's Estadio Universitario had indulged in a scoop or two of french vanilla to ease the nerves.
"One of our strengths is we do go into games with a lot of energy, but at the same time, as a nation, I think we've got to progress beyond just being a defensively compact side and working hard all the time," McFarland said.
"So we're trying to keep them calm and give them plans for possession-based football. We're not expecting to keep the ball like Brazil or even Japan but we want some plans so we're not just hoofing the ball forward and hoping to gain something from it."
Japan are ranked the fourth best under-17 side in the world and lived up to that billing by topping a loaded group that included Argentina, France and Jamaica.
They start favourites against New Zealand, who beat Uzbekistan, lost to the Czech Republic and drew with the USA, conceding just two goals in pool play.
McFarland said there was no feeling that the job had already been done. "We haven't achieved our goal yet because that was to reach the quarterfinals."
Japan play an attractive brand of passing football and are dangerous on the counter-attack, but McFarland felt there were some frailties that could be exploited.
"We've watched some tapes and they're really good on the ball. They'll keep a lot of possession but may not hurt us. If we can frustrate them with our defensive organisation and be a bit smarter going forward then we've got a chance."
There is one enforced change, with Cameron Martin replacing the suspended Cameron Howieson and making his first start of the tournament in a central defensive midfield role.
With no extra time, the match will be decided on penalties if deadlocked after 90 minutes.
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