All Whites to feature new faces
Chris Wood is expected to be named in Danny Hay’s first All Whites squad today despite missing Burnley’s last two matches in the English Premier League.
While the 56-cap veteran will lead the way in the forward ranks, there are likely to be some new faces around him, with fellow veteran Kosta Barbarouses set to remain in Sydney during the international window.
Marco Rojas should provide Hay with another experienced attacking option for the friendlies against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin (November 15, NZ time) and Lithuania in Vilnius (November 18) – the All Whites’ first matches since June last year.
Callum McCowatt was probably unlucky not to have featured back then, when the team went to India under previous coach Fritz Schmid, but is expected to receive his first callup this time around.
The 20-year-old has made a strong start to life at the Wellington Phoenix, but was surprisingly dropped to the bench for Sunday’s loss at Melbourne City, despite being one of the team’s most consistent attacking threats in the first three rounds of the season.
Elliot Collier and Max Mata are also believed to have put themselves in the frame for the first time, as they have both been scoring goals on a regular basis for their clubs, albeit at levels that would be considered to be below the A-League, never mind the Premier League.
In his second year at Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire, Collier spent the season on loan at Memphis 901 in the second-tier United Soccer League, scoring six goals in 26 league appearances.
Mata has also been on loan, joining Nomme Kalju in Estonia from Grasshoppers in Switzerland, who he signed with at the start of the year. With one match to go in the season, he has played
13 games and scored nine times. Having joined McCowatt in moving from the national league, where he was a key member of Hay’s Eastern Suburbs side, to the professional ranks, signing with AmaZulu in South Africa, Andre de Jong could add to the two caps he won last year.
Myer Bevan and Logan Rogerson have both moved in the opposite direction, from professional clubs to the national league and Auckland City, but while Bevan has impressed already, scoring a hat-trick on Saturday, the OlyWhites duo probably need more playing time under their belts to be considered.
The same goes for Jeremy Brockie, who offers experience and is starting to play regularly after moving from the Mamelodi Sundowns to Maritzburg United in South Africa, but hasn’t scored a goal in any competition since December last year.
Wood picked up a hamstring injury two weeks ago that ruled him out of Burnley’s last two matches – losses to Chelsea and Sheffield United – but his club coach Sean Dyche hopes he will return this weekend, which should clear the way for him to link up with the All Whites in Dublin.
The other player under an injury cloud is centre back Winston Reid, who hasn’t played a full senior match since March,
2018, but featured for West Ham United’s under-23 side last week and said afterwards that it was ‘‘back to normal’’ for him, with an appearance for the All Whites in his sights.