Swiss coach set to take over All Whites job

It is understood Swiss coach Fritz Schmid will be announced as the new man in charge of the All Whites today.

He has followed New Zealand Football on Twitter while tweeting goodbye to Malaysia, where he held the post of national technical director until last year.

Schmid previously worked as an assistant coach for the Austrian national team, where he would have rubbed shoulders with NZ Football technical director Andreas Heraf.

NZ Football has called a press conference for 2pm today in Auckland to announce the new coach, ending a three-month search for Anthony Hudson’s successor, whose contract expired last November, in the wake of the All Whites’ World Cup qualifying playoff loss to Peru.

His first assignment will be a friendly against Canada in Spain next month that will be played behind closed doors - the beginning of a four-year journey towards the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

A panel consisting of Heraf, NZ Football chief Andy Martin, a board member, and a High Performance Sport official was responsible for conducting interviews.

A squad for the Canada match has to be selected by March 4, per Fifa regulations, which means it won’t be long before fans get a glimpse at Schmid’s vision for the team.

Four players - Andrew Durante, Glen Moss, Rory Fallon and Shane Smeltz - have retired since November.