New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen believes his side are ready to announce themselves on the world stage, and have no plans to be World Cup whipping boys in South Africa this summer.
The All Whites qualified for their first finals since 1982 after beating Bahrain in a play-off in November, but they are the third-worst ranked team at the finals, with their FIFA world ranking of 79 higher only than hosts South Africa and North Korea.
However, Nelsen reckons that New Zealand have what it takes to defy their 'minnows' status, though he admits a bit of luck may be needed.
"When you look at someone like North Korea, we are obviously quite happy with our group, though France South Africa and Paraguay are all good teams,'' he said. "But we are competitive now, I think in New Zealand teams in the past haven't had many goalscorers or too much experience but I think we've got quite a bit of that that now.
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