All Whites head coach Danny Hay has named a full-strength squad for the team’s long-awaited return to Aotearoa New Zealand this September. 

The 24-person squad will face Australia over two games, firstly at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Thursday 22 September then returning home to Eden Park in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on Sunday 25 September. 

The squad features 16 players who were part of the side that travelled to Doha for June’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 intercontinental play-off. It also sees two players, Kyle Adams and Alex Paulsen, called up to the senior national side for the first time. 

The full squad is:

Kyle Adams* (0 caps) San Diego Loyal, USA
Joe Bell (10 caps) Brøndby IF, Denmark
Michael Boxall (38 caps) Minnesota United, USA
Liberato Cacace (10 caps) FC Empoli, Italy
Andre De Jong (9 caps) Royal AM, South Africa
Matt Garbett (10 caps) Torino, Italy
Alex Greive (6 caps) St Mirren, Scotland
Cam Howieson (15 caps) Auckland City, New Zealand
Dane Ingham (11 caps) Newcastle Jets, Australia
Elijah Just (11 caps) AC Horsens, Denmark
Callum McCowatt (9 caps) FC Helsingør, Denmark
Ben Old (1 cap) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Alex Paulsen* (0 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Tim Payne (28 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Nando Pijnaker (9 caps) Sligo Rovers, Ireland
Winston Reid (32 caps) Unattached
Storm Roux (10 caps) Central Coast Mariners, Australia
Oli Sail (4 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Marko Stamenic (9 caps) FC Copenhagen, Denmark
Bill Tuiloma (34 caps) Portland Timbers, USA
Ben Waine (5 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Chris Wood (68 caps) Newcastle United, England
Michael Woud (4 caps) Kyoto Sanga, Japan
Deklan Wynne (14 caps) Detroit City FC, USA

*Debut senior call-up 

Francis de Vries, Niko Kirwan, Clayton Lewis and Tommy Smith are all unavailable through injury. 

Head coach Danny Hay is delighted the team are finally coming home: 

“The players are absolutely buzzing for this. It has been so long since we played at home. The majority of the squad have never represented the All Whites in New Zealand so this is going to be a proud moment for everyone. 

“We are all still gutted about the intercontinental play-off result and missing out on the FIFA World Cup, but these games, with Australia qualified, gives us the perfect opportunity to prove we belong at this level.”

Match details:

Australia v All Whites
Thursday 22 September – 8pm (local) / 10pm (NZ)
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

All Whites v Australia
Sunday 25 September – 4pm (local) 
Eden Park, Auckland

Book tickets for Eden Park at ticketek.co.nz

Article added: Monday 12 September 2022