The OlyWhites football team to represent New Zealand at the Paris Olympics has been named, with a range of players from around the world.
In the competition regulations squads are limited to 18 players, at least 15 of which must be 23-and-under, with three over-age players permitted.
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Joe Bell, Michael Boxall and Sarpreet Singh are selected as the over-age players, with 11 of the 15 under-23 players also having been capped at senior level, including 10 who were part of the squad for the OFC Nations Cup win in June.
Head coach Darren Bazeley was excited about seeing his young side come together in France:
“The Olympics is a special tournament, so it is great to name the side that will be heading over to Paris 2024 as part of the wider New Zealand Team.
“With the competition happening outside of a FIFA window there have been some challenges with clubs releasing players, who are all really keen to be part of the tournament, but that is an issue that numerous countries have faced.
“In many ways it shows the level that our players are operating at that top clubs want to hold on to people like Chris Wood, but luckily we have been building real depth so have talented options to come in instead.
“Over half of this group were part of the All Whites squad that won the OFC Nations Cup last month, so we are looking to continue that momentum when we get to France.
“This is a rare opportunity for us to test ourselves against some top teams, especially the hosts France in our final group game, and I know all of the players are massively excited and proud to be representing Aotearoa New Zealand.”
The men’s team have been drawn in Group A at the tournament alongside hosts France, Guinea and the USA.
The team start their Paris 2024 campaign against Guinea on Thursday, July 25 (kick-off 3am NZ Time) in Nice, before facing the USA on Sunday, July 28 (kick-off 5am NZT), and France on Wednesday, July 31 (kick-off 5am NZT), both in Marseille.
OLYWHITES SQUAD
Goalkeepers
Alex Paulsen* - AFC Bournemouth, England
Kees Sims - GAIS Göteborg, Sweden
Defenders
Tyler Bindon* – Reading FC, England
Michael Boxall* - Minnesota United, USA
Lukas Kelly-Heald* - Wellington Phoenix
Matthew Sheridan - Wellington Phoenix
Finn Surman* - Wellington Phoenix
Sam Sutton* - Wellington Phoenix
Midfielders
Joe Bell* – Viking FK, Norway
Fin Conchie* - Wellington Phoenix
Matt Garbett* - NAC Breda, Netherlands
Ben Old* - AS Saint-Etienne, France
Sarpreet Singh* - Unattached
Forwards
Riley Bidois - Loudoun United, USA
Jay Herdman - Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada
Jesse Randall* – Auckland FC
Oskar van Hattum* - Wellington Phoenix
Ben Waine* - Plymouth Argyle, England
Alternate Players
Lachlan Bayliss – Newcastle Jets, Australia
Liam Gillion – Auckland FC
Henry Gray - Ipswich Town FC, England
Isaac Hughes - Wellington Phoenix
Alby Kelly-Heald, Scott Morris, Luis Toomey, Finn Linder, Aaryan Raj, Ronan Wynne, Zac Zoricich and Nathan Lobo have been named as non-travelling reserves