All Whites defender Tommy Smith plans to “savour every moment” at this year’s FIFA World Cup.
At 36, the New Zealand international is one of two players named on the squad yesterday who have previously played at the global showpiece.
Captain Chris Wood is the other.
Smith told Breakfast he was “absolutely delighted” to be heading to the tournament.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said.
Smith was one of the more surprising additions to Darren Bazeley’s list. The defender is deep into his career, currently playing for Braintree Town, recently relegated from England’s fifth tier. Smith is first player in the club's history to go to a World Cup. He previously played over 200 times for Ipswich Town, and spent last season at Auckland FC.
Following the squad announcement yesterday, All Whites coach Darren Bazeley said Smith was brought in to be a leader “off the pitch”.
“That's not to say he won't play, but it's going to be really important for the team that we have those players that can show that leadership," Bazeley said.
Smith told Breakfast he understood he would not be heading to North America as a starter and had come to terms with his role on the team.
“I’m there to support the group as best I can, to drive standards both on and off the pitch, and bring my leadership and experience of all these years playing professional football.
“Knowing that players aren’t going to get the minutes they want, you need to be able to pick them up, make sure they’re ready, and just provide that sort of shoulder to come talk to and lean on.”
Smith said he was feeling good physically and would be heading into camp early “just to get those top-up sessions in”.
“I’ll be raring to go for sure.”
He described being named in the squad as a “full circle moment”, having started his career with the now-legendary South Africa 2010 team.
Smith started all three group games at that tournament, where the All Whites stood tall as the only undefeated side, despite not progressing to the knock-out stages.
“That was probably the kickstart of my professional career, the 2010 World Cup,” he said.
“I probably didn’t appreciate it at the time, just how big and how well we did at that tournament.”
Smith said coming back as an experienced player, he wanted to “drink it in” and “make the most of it”.
“As a 20-year-old kid, I naively thought that it was going to happen every four years and we’d be there every time.
“This time I really want to savour every moment.”
Watch the All Whites' FIFA World Cup and warmup matches live and free on TVNZ+
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