‘Great opportunity’ for unproven All Whites
All Whites coach Fritz Schmid summed it up when he took umbrage with the idea that he could somehow pick and choose fixtures.
He had just revealed an extremely inexperienced 23-man squad for the Intercontinental Cup, a four-team friendly tournament in India that starts next weekend, and was asked whether it might be prudent to avoid assignments where so many of his players can’t be involved.
‘‘Picking fixtures? No disrespect but we are not in the position just to choose and select our moments and then expect everyone to jump and line up for fixtures with New Zealand.
‘‘We must be very happy about this opportunity to get a tournament.
‘‘If you’re not travelling to the World Cup, all the other countries, they sit at home, they don’t get international games, so I’m more than happy to have this window.’’
In India, New Zealand Football has been offered the chance to play three international matches – four if they make the final – and it is understood most of the cost of doing so has been taken care of by the hosts.
They can’t afford to turn such an opportunity down, even if circumstances mean they won’t be fielding what many would consider to be a first or even second-choice lineup.
Time will tell how many of the 23 named yesterday end up featuring for Schmid when the All Whites begin their next World Cup qualifying campaign in 2020 but there will be some, and those that do will have gained something from this experience, which makes it worthwhile.
It is clear he believes he still has enough talent at his disposal to beat their opponents – India, Chinese Taipei, and Kenya – who are all ranked higher in the world by Fifa. They will play each other once, with the top two then contesting a decider.
Schmid said yesterday it was ‘‘a great All Whites squad for the Intercontinental Cup:
❚ Goalkeepers:
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❚ ❚ June 3, 2.30am v Kenya
❚ June 6, 2.30am v Chinese Taipei
❚ June 8, 2.30am v India
❚ June 11, 2.30am, final (if qualified) opportunity’’ for his players to make a statement.
‘‘Under-strength? Let’s see how we perform, then we will see if we are understrength.
‘‘Let’s give them the option to show if they can perform.
‘‘I had a similar question before the Canada game, and people told me to get some warm socks and a warm shirt because it might be rough but we came out of that game [a 1-0 loss] being angry that we let a better result slip away.
‘‘I’m very confident that these players are prepared to show that maybe it’s not understrength.
‘‘They might be the right players for this tournament.’’
Those selected have just 97 caps between them, 74 of which have been earned by seven of them – Tim Payne (15), Clayton Lewis (14), Moses Dyer (10), Cam Howieson (10), Sam Brotherton (10), Tom Doyle (9), and Dane Ingham (6).
They have scored just three international goals – one by Myer Bevan against the Solomon Islands last September and two by Payne against the same opposition five years ago.
Just three players selected for last November’s World Cup qualifying playoff are included – Lewis, Dane Ingham and Max Crocombe – with four since retired and 16 others absent for a variety of reasons.
Those include the impending arrival of a child, in the case of Michael McGlinchey; offseason surgery, in the case of Storm Roux; continuing club commitments, in the case of players based in the United States; and injuries and/or the desire to have an end-of-season break – after two straight years with All Whites commitments – for a bunch of established pros.
Striker Noah Billingsley and defender Liberato Cacace, both age-group internationals, have been called up for the first time, though goalkeepers Nik Tzanev and Michael Woud and defenders Nikko Boxall and Justin Gulley are still waiting to earn their first caps.