Coach admires opponent despite his team's loss [Aug 02, 2012]

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New Zealand coach Neil Emblen would have preferred his team not get played off the field in a 3-0 loss to Brazil in its final group game, but that didn't stop him from admiring his opponents. Emblen said he took the time to watch and try to learn from the Brazilians.

"We were on the bench admiring how they play, their moving and passing," Emblen said. "You just see how their players work, we just got to learn from this experience. Not only they are technically good but they work hard as well. We've been beaten by a fantastic football team which will probably win the gold medal."

The Kiwis' needed a victory to have a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.

"It was a great lesson for us as a nation to play against these boys," said Emblen. "I admired watching Marcelo today, he does his job defensively brilliantly. Everybody knows what he is going to do but no one can stop him. He was fantastic for Brazil today, he's just an amazing player."

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