The Whites will return to the field next month for the first time in nearly 700 days, but they may have to start their journey to the 2022 World Cup without the two best players in the country.
New Zealand Football announced on Saturday that the men’s national football team will play Curaao and Bahrain during the October indoor window starting two weeks later.
Coach Danny Hay will select the 21-man squad for the event in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, but captain Winston Reid and midfielder Ryan Thomas are yet to be decided.
Subject
Olivet, Midfielder Clayton Lewis talks about New Zealand’s Olympic campaign.
Reid appears to have returned to training with a knee injury during the Tokyo Olympics in July. Hay said that even though he could not play because his leadership in Japan was “precious”, he could still travel from London in the books of Premier League club West Ham United.
read more:
* All-White bid for 2022 World Cup begins in Qatar in March, FIFA approval pending
* New Zealand football has not yet taken a stand
* Evict national team staff without allocating NZ football MIQ seats
* All whites have decided to play this year as the World Cup qualifiers approach
Thomas did not participate in the Olympic campaign after breaking his ankle in March, playing for PSV Fifth on Dutch ERTV, his third major injury in several seasons. The 26-year-old said in an interview he occasionally gave to a local newspaper that he might have somehow chosen to focus on his life at the club, and that he had that in mind.
“I have talked to him a lot and now Ryan needs to focus on restoring his full fitness and health.
“He also has a young family and now I think his focus is on them and trying to focus on him.
“This means we only work on a window-to-window basis.”
One player who will play after missing out on the Olympics is midfielder Sarpreet Singh, who chose to focus on borrowing from Bayern Munich with John Regensberg in the German second division. He started a solid career at his new club, scoring two goals and providing three assists to help them sit at the top of the table after six games.
The All-Whites game against Bahrain won the Intercontinental Playoffs in 2009 and qualified for the 2010 World Cup. They never played against the Caribbean nation of Curaao, which has a population of more than 150,000, but they are a good test, as there are many Dutch players in the Dutch league in the former Dutch colony.
They took action again after beating South Korea at the Tokyo Olympics in July and advancing to the playoffs for the first time, setting a record in OlyWhites history by losing to host nation Japan in the quarterfinals.
For the first time in almost two years, several Hay team players will compete in the tournament, which will feature players aged 24 or under.
A total of eight people, including senior Reid and Premier League striker Chris Wood, have already made their first white debut, and many Olympic teams are expected to line up to receive their first call this time around.
Straw will be banned for players in Europe and the United States for matches in October as hotel isolation requirements for returnees to Australia and New Zealand exclude them from the competition.
Hey, his coaches and the country’s players will be 13 months apart and the two friendships will be the start of what could be his third FIFA World Cup appearance in Qatar in November.
The path of all whites to the prestigious competition event remains the same as in the last three editions of the World Cup, which ultimately required a Continental playoff victory, but the exact details of the qualifying path have not yet been confirmed.
The Oceania Football Association has announced that it plans to hold a qualifier in Qatar this week, with the region’s first team advancing from the continent to the continent play – off round in June.
The October Games will be the first match for all whites since November 2019, losing to Ireland (3-1) and Lithuania (1-0) in the first two games against Howe.
The men’s national team has played six times since losing the last World Cup qualifier against Peru last November 2017, and more matches in March and June 2018.
All White Team Matches – October International Window
Sunday, October 10, 5am New Zealand Time: Against Curaao; Two seas
Wednesday, October 13, 5:00 AM New Zealand Time: Against Bahrain; Two seas
“Introvert. Communicator. Tv fanatic. Typical coffee advocate. Proud music maven. Infuriatingly humble student.”
More Stories
US stars shine in lion’s den: Stephen Curry leads Team USA to gold
Russian Tortoises: The Ideal Pet for Reptile Enthusiasts
Biden and Xi want to sit down one last time