Opportunity excites All Whites coach
All Whites coach Danny Hay is excited to have the chance to play the world’s No 1 side, Belgium, in October, if the Covid-19 pandemic allows.
He said yesterday it was an opportunity ‘‘too big’’ to be turned down, even if he has to select a squad predominantly based in Europe for the match in Brussels.
NZ Football said in a statement they had made ‘‘provisional plans’’ to play the fixture, scheduled for October 8 (October 9 NZ time), as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage around the world.
They will need to ensure the match can take place in a safe environment and that there isn’t too big a burden asked of any players travelling from further afield.
‘‘New Zealand Football and the Belgian FA are going to be working very closely in the background,’’ Hay said.
‘‘We’re going to have to be able assemble a squad, that’s the first thing.
‘‘We’ve got a number of players based in Europe, which is going to help, but I’d really to like to get the players in the US coming over to Europe as well, so we’ll just have to see what progress is made with borders opening up and Covid-19 slowing down, because at the moment it is certainly quite rampant in parts of the world.’’
The 122nd-ranked All Whites will also need to have it confirmed that there won’t be any Oceania Football Confederation World Cup qualifiers in October, which would have to take priority.
A decision on the OFC calendar for the rest of the year is due at the end of July, and it is expected all qualifying action will be postponed until 2021.
Hay played alongside Belgium coach Roberto Martinez when they were at
Walsall in England and reconnecting with his former team-mate was one reason he was excited about the clash.
The main one, however, was the chance to potentially pit the country’s top talent – the likes of Chris Wood, Ryan Thomas, and Sarpreet Singh – against the likes of Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku, and Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois. ‘‘What an opportunity, is the immediate thought,’’ Hay said.
‘‘How often does a New Zealand football team get to play against a side of this nature and quality – it’s incredible.’’
Nine members of Hay’s last All Whites squad – the one he selected for his first matches in charge, the losses to the Republic of Ireland and Lithuania last November – are currently based in Europe, but there are just as many players there who weren’t called up then, and some potentially moving there in the coming months, like Wellington Phoenix fullback Liberato Cacace.
Hay was relaxed about potentially having to call on a Europe-centric squad, even if it meant the All Whites wouldn’t necessarily be at full strength against an elite opponent.