Deep talent pool breeds anticipation
The last time New Zealand sent a men’s football team to the Olympics, only half the squad were professionals. This year, almost all of them will be.
That’s why the OlyWhites’ trip to Tokyo might be the most anticipated appearance at a global football tournament in the country’s history.
There’s Sarpreet Singh at Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. There’s Michael Woud at Willem II in the Eredivisie. There’s Liberato Cacace and Callum McCowatt at the Wellington Phoenix. There’s Joe Bell, Elijah Just, Max Mata, James McGarry, and Nando Pijnaker, who all made their All Whites debuts last November.
Then there’s Noah Billingsley, who is on the verge of signing his first professional contract in the United States; Dane Ingham, making his way back from injury at Perth Glory; and at Auckland City in the New Zealand national league, three players who have been pros and want to be again: Myer Bevan, Clayton Lewis and Logan Rogerson.
Moses Dyer and Henry Cameron bring the number of players with All Whites caps available for the under-23 team (restricted to those born in 1997 or later) to 16 – and that’s before coach Des Buckingham begins to consider the three overage players he’s allowed to add .
No New Zealand football team has held such promise, even though the country’s relative standing in the global game means ultimate success, in the form of a medal, is still a far-off possibility.
The team that went to the Under17 Women’s World Cup in 2018 and won bronze showed what can be done, however, and this group has the talent to emulate them.
One of Buckingham’s biggest tasks will be making sure all that talent can come together, which is easier said than done given how many of them are at professional clubs, which don’t have to release them for the Olympic tournament on July 23-August 8.
But as he enters his third year at NZ Football, where he started as national under-20 coach before moving on to the under-23s in the wake of Fritz Schmid’s departure last June, Buckingham believes he’s built something players want to be a part of.
‘‘Certainly the players who have been involved and a big part of what we’ve done already, they are really keen,’’ he has said.
‘‘We had three things we wanted for this environment when we started in February, 2018 – that players would come in and learn, that we would be successful, and that they would enjoy it, because we want them to come back.
‘‘We’re at that stage now where we’ve got players wanting to be involved and the Olympics will be a showcase for them.’’
Barring a last-minute swerve from Fifa, the OlyWhites will be drawn with one European team – France, Germany, Romania or Spain – one Asian team – Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia or South Korea – and one team from the rest of the world – Egypt, Ivory Coast and South Africa have all booked their tickets, with South American qualifying under way and North and Central American qualifying scheduled for March. Avoiding the traditional powerhouses from Europe and Asia – by ending up with Romania and/ or one of Australia or Saudi Arabia – would give the team’s chances of a first Olympic knockout appearance a boost, though there is a possibility they could find themselves with something like Brazil, France and South Korea for company.
For his part, Buckingham isn’t letting the luck of the draw distract him.
‘‘I’ll just go back to what I’ve said all long, whether it’s with the under20s or the under-23s – it’s about us, and we’ll go into the event, whoever we draw, and we’ll show what we can do.
‘‘I think we’ve shown that we’re surprising people. At the Under-20 World Cup, we certainly had people sitting up and taking notice of what our players are doing; it was the same when we played Australia [last September] and got two draws.
‘‘We’re showing people what we can do and there will be no change on our part.’’
Buckingham is set to spend February and March visiting national league clubs, and plans to visit some overseas-based players after the draw in April.
There will be a camp in Auckland at the start of May, then – though NZ Football is yet to confirm it – he is expected to take the All Whites for the OFC Nations Cup in Auckland in June, using players in the mix for Tokyo.
The OlyWhites will leave for Japan two weeks out from the Olympics, where the first aim will be a win – something a New Zealand men’s team has never managed before.