All Whites and Men’s U-23 head coach Darren Bazeley has added five players to his squad for the OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifier tournament set to kick-off in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland this weekend. 

The five players selected have been called up to cover for the five members of his initial squad that have been held back by Wellington Phoenix to travel to Australia for the team’s FFA Cup match against Melbourne City on Sunday 27 August, missing the opening game of the Olympic Qualifier tournament played on the same day.  

The five players held back by Wellington Phoenix will now join the Olympic Qualifier squad on Monday 28 August.  

Added to the squad are: Aiden Carey (Auckland City), Adama Coulibaly (Western Springs), Theo Ettema (Wellington Olympic), Joe Knowles (Eastern Suburbs) and Matthew Sheridan (Wellington Phoenix).

Remaining with Wellington Phoenix for the FFA Cup match are: Isaac Hughes, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Alex Paulsen, Finn Surman and Oskar van Hattum.

Newcastle Jets’ Lachlan Bayliss has also had to withdraw from the squad after suffering an injury. 

The updated squad now is:

Riley Bidois - Dandenong City, Australia
Oscar Browne - Western Springs, New Zealand
Aiden Carey - Auckland City, New Zealand
Adama Coulibaly - Western Springs, New Zealand 
Willem Ebbinge - Harvard University, USA
Matthew Ellis - Western Springs, New Zealand
Theo Ettema - Wellington Olympic, New Zealand 
William Gillion - Auckland City, New Zealand
Isaac Hughes* - Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Alby Kelly-Heald - Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Lukas Kelly-Heald* - Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Joe Knowles - Eastern Suburbs, New Zealand 
Joe Lee - Auckland City, New Zealand
Nathan Lobo - Auckland City, New Zealand
Dan McKay - Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Scott Morris - Christchurch United, New Zealand
George Ott - Avondale FC, Australia
Alex Paulsen* - Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Aaryan Raj - Eastern Suburbs, New Zealand
Jesse Randall - Charleston Battery, USA
Matthew Sheridan - Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Campbell Strong - Eastern Suburbs, New Zealand
Finn Surman* - Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Luis Toomey - Eastern Suburbs, New Zealand
Oskar van Hattum* - Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Ryan Verney - Eastern Suburbs, New Zealand
Zac Zoricich - Central Coast Mariners, Australia

*Joining on 28 August.

Head coach Darren Bazeley said:

“One of the unique things about this tournament is that we are able to change the squad from game to game meaning that there is a lot of flexibility with how we can assemble the team.

“While it is disappointing not to be able to call on five strong players who have been held back by Wellington Phoenix, I have every confidence in the squad we have assembled.”

The OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifier 2023 will be played in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland from 27 August – 9 September 2023 with matches at Go Media Stadium Mt. Smart, The Trusts Arena and North Harbour Stadium.

New Zealand U-23 are in Group A with Fiji and Papua New Guinea and will play all group matches at Go Media Stadium Mt. Smart. 

New Zealand U-23 Group A Fixtures: 

Sunday 27 August 2023:
3pm - New Zealand v Papua New Guinea

Wednesday 30 August 2023:
3pm - New Zealand v Fiji

Article added: Wednesday 23 August 2023