A trio of senior All Whites have been included in a highly-talented group that will chase glory for New Zealand at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland next month.

Head Coach Des Buckingham is able to call on the services of Michael Woud, Sarpreet Singh and Liberato Cacace while a batch of players who have just won the ISPS Handa Premiership with Eastern Suburbs – namely Nando Pijnaker, Dalton Wilkins, Dominic Wooldridge, Elijah Just and Callum McCowatt – have also been included in the 21-strong squad.

The Wellington Phoenix meanwhile have contributed seven of their finest young prospects and there is a sprinkling of talent from overseas with teams in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Scotland and USA also represented.

Buckingham has left no stone unturned in his preparations – which have included months of travelling to visit players and clubs – and says the far-reaching nature of the squad is the result of impressive player development, both on these shores and beyond.

“I’ve been here for five years now and have worked across all the remits, from grassroots all the way through to clubs and now the national teams,” he says.

“So I’ve seen the growth of the game in this country and there’s some really good work being done across the whole breadth of New Zealand. We’re now starting to see some fruition of that.”

Over a six-month period, Buckingham has worked with over 70 players and had a welcome headache in narrowing that down to the final squad, who will take on Honduras, Uruguay and Norway in Group C. He had largely a clean bill of health to select from with only Brisbane Roar defender Dane Ingham unavailable through injury.

“It’s a very good and exciting group of players,” Buckingham says.

“When you go to these major events and are playing against the best players in the world for their age, you need to take the players who are going to be able to compete on that world stage. I feel the 21 we’ve selected will do that and be proud to represent New Zealand.”

With the recent success of the U-17 women achieving a bronze medal at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup last year, Buckingham is using that remarkable feat as inspiration and believes his talented squad have the ability to create their own relative history.

“That was a fantastic achievement for the girls and coaching staff but also for the country – it shows what can be achieved,” he says.

“First and foremost, we will look at getting out of the group and the furthest New Zealand has gone at this tournament is the Round of 16. So, if we’re looking to create our own history, it will be to get to that game and win it,” he adds.

“From there, we’ve seen what’s possible and there’s no reason why these players can’t do the same.”

New Zealand squad for FIFA U-20 World Cup

Goalkeepers

Michael Woud, Willem II (Netherlands)
Cameron Brown, Central United
Zac Jones, Wellington Phoenix

Defenders

George Stanger, Hamilton Academicals (Scotland)
Nando Pijnaker, Eastern Suburbs
Dalton Wilkins, Eastern Suburbs
Gianni Stensness, Wellington Phoenix
Liberato Cacace, Wellington Phoenix
Callan Elliot, Wellington Phoenix

Midfielders

Dane Schnell, Western Springs
Joe Bell, University of Virginia (USA)
Dominic Wooldridge, Eastern Suburbs
Willem Ebbinge, Wellington Phoenix
Sarpreet Singh, Wellington Phoenix
Elijah Just, Eastern Suburbs
Leon van den Hoven, RKC Waalwijk (Netherlands)
Trevor Zwetsloot, Werder Bremen (Germany)

Forwards

Matt Conroy, Western Springs
Max Mata, Grasshoppers Zurich (Switzerland)
Ben Waine, Wellington Phoenix
Callum McCowatt, Eastern Suburbs

Article added: Tuesday 16 April 2019