Jack Tame: Here's why I'm not so nervous for today's game against Belgium

Well, it's game day!

Strangely, I feel less nervous about today's game than I did for the previous two. Heading into the World Cup, it always felt like the All Whites games were going to get progressively harder.

On paper, our best chance was in our first match against Iran, our second best chance was in our second match - but there cannot be many fans, many bookmakers, many pundits on Earth who, before the tournament kicked off, would have backed New Zealand against Belgium.

I'm not going to kid myself, they are still very long odds, but the reason I'm not so nervous is because it really felt, to me, like the dream of making it through to the knockout stage of a Football World Cup kind of slipped away in the first 10 minutes of the second half the other day.

And yet, one is always reminded that sport is a funny business. And that even though our heads and our hearts are in very different places this morning - it's kind of like a Powerball jackpot. There's nothing wrong with dreaming.

So, here's what gives me a little sliver of hope as we stare down the barrel of a must-win contest against what, on paper, must surely be one of the world's best football teams.

First of all, Belgium haven't been very good in their first two matches. They haven't fired, they've looked kind of blunt, kind of dull - are some of their superstars maybe a bit long in the tooth? Perhaps. Is today the day they find their edge and fire? 

Or, come on and dream, is today the day that something crazy happens?

Second of all, the All Whites have scored goals. I feel like, for basically the entire history of New Zealand football, we have been a country that has relied on stoic, physical defence, rather than attacking flair. You know what I mean, 7 at the back, clear the ball, hoof it up the field - that kind of football.

But in this tournament, we've had flashes of a different kind of football. For me, Eli Just has been the obvious standout performer in our first two matches. Every time he's on the ball, he looks threatening - our midfielder, more technically capable than almost any team we've had in the past.

And with Chris Wood as a point man distributing to reinforcements, there have been impressive passages of attack in football, it's been refreshing.  

The third thing that gives me just a little bit of hope is the p-word: pressure. It is a must-win game for both teams, but basically no-one in the whole footballing universe seriously expects New Zealand to topple the mighty red devil.

So what does it mean if the scores are tied after 20 minutes? What does it mean if they're still tied at half-time? What does it mean if, partway through the second half, New Zealand has a moment of glory and snatches the lead?

What does it mean when all of those superstars look over to the referees' assistant as they lift their little digital sign in the air - with 8 minutes of the referees' time left?

I recently saw this amazing presentation from Richie McCaw and he talked about the All Blacks' 2007 World Cup defeat. And this was his point - pressure. Everyone feels pressure.

But when the world's expectation is that you're going to destroy another team, all it takes is a few little sporting twists - a bounce of a ball, a random unlucky deflection, a footballing force majeure - for that pressure to intensify.

For what it's worth, I reckon Darren Bazeley needs to take a punt, he needs to get young blood in there, some fresh legs. I want to see Jesse Randall run at the Belgian defence, I think he waited too long to make changes in previous games.

And who knows what might happen? 

It's interesting, Ecuador beat Germany yesterday, for the first really big upset of the Football World Cup. But I think the thing about that game was that there was no jeopardy for the Germans. They had already qualified for the next round, so they were resting their stars and taking it easy. 

This Football World Cup is still waiting for a really, really big, football universe-shattering upset. Belgium needs to win, we need a win. 

So come on - why not?

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