Speaking after their traditional rival was humiliated 4-0 by Germany on Sunday night in Durban, the All Whites defender admitted feeling somewhat sorry for the Socceroos - at least for a few minutes.

"I've got a lot of friends in the Australian team, so I kind of feel sorry for them," he said, referring to his current team-mates at Blackburn, Brett Emerton and Vince Grella, and his predecessor as Rovers' skipper Lucas Neill.

"But the Kiwi in me comes out, so they can shed some crocodile tears I think," he joked on Foxsports News.

On a more serious note, Nelsen believes the All Whites have a good chance of claiming even more bragging rights against the Aussies when they take on Slovakia in their first Group F clash on Monday.

Nelsen is adamant his side won't be daunted by playing their first World Cup finals game in 28 years, saying his side had already dealt with extreme pressure when it battled Bahrain in last November's play-off for a position at SA2010.

That clash between the All Whites, winner of the Oceania Group, and Bahrain, the best of the non-qualifying sides from Asia, saw the biggest crowd ever at a New Zealand football match, as the locals accounted for Bahrain in a 1-0 result at Westpac Stadium.

And Nelsen believes that experience will more than prepare the New Zealanders for the pressure of their first clash in South Africa.

"That Bahrain game in Wellington is the most pressure these guys will be under, more pressure than these World Cup games," Nelsen told the New Zealand Herald.

"They (the players) handled it tremendously and weren't afraid of it. That gave us real confidence, I think."

"I think this team's a wee bit different from most New Zealand teams. We've got a lot of experience now among the squad. Things don't kind of daunt you as much as they used to."

"We're not that wet behind the ears. The guys are confident."

The confidence is not surprising after the All Whites produced an impressive performance in a controversial 2-1 friendly loss to Australia just before the side headed to an altitude training camp in Austria.

It was in Austria that New Zealand claimed its most impressive scalp in years, defeating Serbia in a 1-0 friendly result, despite the European side boasting numerous high quality European players.