New Zealand Football have today confirmed two games for the men’s national team, against Bahrain and Curaçao, this October in Manama, Bahrain. 

The All Whites will face Curaçao on Saturday 9 October (Sunday 10 October NZT) and Bahrain on Tuesday 12 October (Wednesday 13 October NZT). Both games will be played at 7pm local time (5am in New Zealand).

“I’m delighted we are confirming these games” said Head Coach Danny Hay. 

“Following Tokyo 2020 our main priority was to continue to build on the momentum we established with the Olympic side and bring it to the full senior team. We’ve seen the exciting generation of players emerging, we now just need to start playing games on a regular basis to continue that development.  

“These games will be a good test. Obviously Kiwi fans will be well aware of Bahrain but Curaçao are a strong side with lots of players playing at a high level in Europe.” 

New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell was pleased to be able to confirm the fixtures, promising they were just the beginning for both the men’s and women’s national teams.

“After the barriers we have faced for the last 18 months we are determined that we are going to get our national teams playing. Following these fixtures being confirmed today we will soon hopefully be announcing another set of games for November as well as Football Ferns matches.

“With changing border conditions in the Northern Hemisphere combined with the work our national teams did at the Olympics we can navigate playing in a Covid environment in a safe and responsible manner. It does make things more difficult and I want to applaud the staff and players in our national teams for the sacrifices they are making to get us on the pitch.”

Because of the managed isolation and quarantine requirements upon entry back into Aotearoa New Zealand, Danny Hay anticipates having to pick a predominantly Europe and US-based squad. Hay will also travel with only three other New Zealand-based staff members. 

“I’m really confident in the player base we have overseas and it is testament to the talent we are producing that we are in a position to choose a squad with likely no Australia or New Zealand based players.

“As things stand we will be travelling with reduced staff and we will be using the public MIQ system to return to New Zealand. It is a difficult situation but we are all committed to doing whatever is needed to play these games.”

Article added: Saturday 18 September 2021