The All Whites leave tomorrow to compete in the OFC Nations Cup in Vanuatu and Fiji in what is the national team’s last tournament before the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Nations Cup squad was announced last week and features a plethora of young players as All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley prepares to name his under-23 side for Paris.
Bazeley said that when picking this squad he focused on youth to give them the most time on the pitch to play together.
“This is a strong All Whites squad, with a large number of young under-23 players who will be part of the Olympic campaign, so having this time together is a real benefit leading into Paris 2024,” said Bazeley.
Bazeley said that players outside of this Nation's Cup squad will make the Olympics squad which can only feature three players over 23-years-old.
All Whites defender Tyler Bindon recently returned to the squad from the US and hasn’t been in New Zealand for over a year.
“I want to perform well and build a better relationship with my teammates ahead of the Olympics,” Bindon told 1News.
“I always wanted to represent New Zealand, playing for America was easier but Bazeley approached me about coming to the team, and it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”
The 19-year-old plays for Reading FC in the EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after making a move from the LAFC academy in 2023.
Alex Paulsen seemed relatively relaxed at the team’s final training session on Tuesday, despite the 21-year-old goalkeeper recently making a record signing with Bournemouth in the Premier League.
“I’m putting all my effort and focus into this tournament and then we’ll build off it for the Olympics,” said Paulsen.
All Whites striker Max Mata explained that the squad was meant to leave on Tuesday this week for the tournament but have had their departure shifted to Thursday.
“It’s a pretty hectic time of the year, at the same time it’s the off-season for most of the squad, but we’re very excited,” said Mata.
Mata joins Cam Howieson, Jesse Randall and Tommy Smith in the All Whites squad, after they all recently signed for the A-League’s new franchise Auckland FC.
The All Whites are without Premier League striker Chris Wood for this Nations Cup tournament due to a schedule clash with his wedding, as Wood had scheduled it during his off-season before the tournament was announced.
The team travels to Port Vila, Vanuatu as the tournament favourites after winning the most recent edition in 2016, as the 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic.
They will play Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands in their pool and were meant to play New Caledonia in their tournament opener, but the nation pulled out due to the political unrest the country.
All Whites squad for the OFC Nations Cup:
Kosta Barbarouses, Tyler Bindon, Liberato Cacace, Fin Conchie, Max Crocombe, Alex Greive , Cam Howieson, Eli Just, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Max Mata, Ben Old, Alex Paulsen, Tim Payne, Jesse Randall, Alex Rufer, Oli Sail , Tommy Smith, Finn Surman, Sam Sutton, Ben Waine, Oskar van Hattum.
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