Four new players have been named by head coach Darren Bazeley in his All Whites squad for the OFC Nations Cup in Fiji later this month.
With an eye on July’s Summer Olympics, Bazeley has called up ten U-23 players who are eligible for Paris 2024, including four (Wellington Phoenix trio Fin Conchie, Sam Sutton and Oskar van Hattum as well as Auckland FC’s Jesse Randall) selected for the first time.
Bazeley highlighted the importance of the tournament to his side this year and the opportunities it provides for players to test themselves at international level:
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“This tournament is a really important competition for us and forms part of a big year starting with the OFC Nations Cup, followed by the Olympics and the start of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers
“The timing of this Nations Cup has made it quite difficult to select this final squad. “Over the last month, I have spoken to all of the players around their personal situations, with some of our potential players still mid-season, some coming off the back of long European seasons, and some in various personal or contract situations.
“With the Olympics also being so close to the Nations Cup, with them being pretty much back-to-back tournaments, we have had to take that into consideration as well, managing player club and country commitments.
“This is a strong All Whites squad, with a large number of young U-23 players who will be part of the Olympic campaign, so having this time together is a real benefit leading into Paris 2024.
“We now regularly monitor over 60 professional players who are all in the All Whites mix showing the strength in depth we are building, so for this Nations Cup squad we have delved into our depth and it is an opportunity for players to push themselves forward and stake a claim for regular selection
.“It is really exciting to see some of our younger players receive their first call up, it is a great opportunity for them to taste senior international football.“What we need is to be playing as many games as possible which is why this competition, with challenging international games in quick succession, is great for our development.”
The All Whites enter the tournament as the defending champions after lifting the trophy in 2016 and the 2020 edition being cancelled due to Covid-19.
New Zealand has been drawn in Group A at the tournament alongside New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and co-hosts Vanuatu, and will play all group games at VFF Freshwater Stadium in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Fourteen players return from the last All Whites squad selected to face Egypt and Tunisia in March.
ALL WHITES SQUAD
Kosta Barbarouses (52 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Tyler Bindon (6 caps) Reading FC, England
Liberato Cacace (22 caps) Empoli, Italy
Fin Conchie (0 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand*
Max Crocombe (6 caps) Burton Albion, England
Alex Greive (11 caps) Dundee United, Scotland
Cam Howieson (16 caps) Auckland FC / Auckland City FC, New Zealand
Eli Just (22 caps) AC Horsens, Denmark
Lukas Kelly-Heald (0 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Max Mata (10 caps) Auckland FC, New Zealand
Ben Old (4 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Alex Paulsen (0 caps) AFC Bournemouth, England
Tim Payne (34 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Jesse Randall (0 caps) Auckland FC / Wellington Olympic AFC, New Zealand*
Alex Rufer (9 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Oli Sail (9 caps) Perth Glory, Australia
Tommy Smith (52 caps) Auckland FC, New Zealand
Finn Surman (1 cap) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Sam Sutton (0 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand*
Ben Waine (13 caps) Plymouth Argyle, England
Oskar van Hattum (0 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand**Debut call up
ALL WHITES SCHEDULE
All Whites vs New Caledonia
Saturday, June 15, 12pm local time (1pm NZT)
VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu
All Whites vs Solomon Islands
Tuesday, June 18, 12pm local time (1pm NZT)
VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu
All Whites vs Vanuatu Friday, June 21, 3pm local time (4pm NZT)
VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu
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