Club v country clash weakens u-19 squad
New Zealand’s squad for next month’s Oceania Under-19 Championship is set to be severely under strength, putting qualification for the 2019 under-20 World Cup at risk.
Twelve of the 28 players initially invited to a pre-tournament camp his week are not present – eight by choice, two due to injury, and two because their professional clubs wouldn’t release them.
Among the absentees are two Wellington Phoenix professionals, Liberato Cacace and Sarpreet Singh, and five players from amateur Wellington club Western Suburbs – Callum McCowatt, Dalton Wilkins, Elijah Just, Nando Pijnaker and Xavier Green.
Coach Des Buckingham has had 26 players in camp in Auckland since Monday and is set to name an 18-man squad tomorrow, with their first game at the tournament in Tahiti against the hosts on August 6 (NZ time). The two finalists qualify for the World Cup in Poland.
Buckingham said his focus was on the players who were available, rather than those who weren’t. ‘‘We’re naming our squad on Friday, and the talk should be about the 18 that are in it.’’
Phoenix duo Cacace and Singh told Buckingham last Wednesday they had made themselves unavailable in order to focus on their preparations for the coming A-League season, which begins on October 21.
A Phoenix spokesperson said the players would not be available for interviews about their decision. This will be the first time a professional from the club has not attended an Oceania agegroup tournament when fit and eligible to do so.
Two weeks ago Singh told he was ‘‘hoping to make [his] way to qualifiers,’’ when asked if he was looking to be part of the under-20 campaign.
At the unveiling of a new signing on Wednesday, Phoenix coach Mark Rudan said ‘‘it wasn’t an easy decision’’ for the duo. He said he had spoken to them about the decision they faced, but had not put any pressure on them.