All Whites determined to play this year as World Cup qualifying campaign looms – Stuff.co.nz

Danny Hay is determined to have the All Whites playing in the October and November international windows as his focus turns from the Tokyo Olympics to qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar next November.

The countrys top footballers havent played since November 2019, more than 600 days ago, but having gained experience in how to operate amidst the Covid-19 pandemic with the OlyWhites in Japan, their coach is hopeful they will soon be back in action.

September is a no-go for obvious reasons seeing as we've just come back and are still sitting here in quarantine, Hay said of the next international window, which begins in less than three weeks, on August 30.

STUFF

OlyWhites midfielder Clayton Lewis reflects on New Zealand's Olympic campaign.

It's just too much of a quick turnaround, but we're working hard to get games in October and November.

READ MORE:* OlyWhites had Clayton Lewis' back after missing penalty against Japan* Chris Wood excited for World Cup campaign after OlyWhites' Tokyo Olympics efforts* OlyWhites lose Tokyo Olympics quarterfinal against Japan in penalty shootout* OlyWhites want no what-ifs after Tokyo Olympics quarterfinal against hosts Japan

I think it's critical that we try and bring a large number of the players that were with us in Japan back together and then bring other players in, that are based around either Europe or the US.

It's not an easy operation. It's tough getting the games, as everybody will be aware, but we're going to make it happen.

We're very determined that it's going to happen and if that's going to mean a few staff members being based over in Europe for a couple of months, then so be it.

We're just champing at the bit to get it going again.

There are no European opponents available in the October window, so New Zealand Football will likely have to look to the Middle East and west Asia, where Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Uzbekistan are among the nations yet to organise fixtures.

In November, there are several European countries with dates free, including the Czech Republic, who made the quarterfinals at Euro 2020 in July, and Lithuania, the All Whites most recent opponents.

Managed isolation and quarantine requirements are set to rule players based in Australia and New Zealand out of any matches arranged later this year, but there should be enough players based in Europe and the US available for Hay to assemble a squad.

That group grew by one this week, with midfielder-turned-defender Gianni Stensness on the move from Australia to Norway following a strong Olympic campaign.

While Hay is busy preparing for the end of 2021, he is also hoping to soon have some clarity as to what the start of 2022 will look like for the All Whites.

An Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament is set to take place in January in the Middle East, as local venues were unviable as a result of Covid-19 border restrictions, with the winner advancing to an intercontinental playoff in June for one of the final two spots in the tournament, which has been moved from its usual place in the middle of the year to November and December.

The best team from Oceania will play either the fourth-best team from North and Central America, the fifth-best team from Asia, or the fifth-best team from South America in that playoff, with a draw to determine the exact matchup expected to take place soon.

I know they're looking closely at having the OFC qualifiers in Qatar, Hay said.

Hopefully that happens. I think that would be a great place to host them, particularly with the World Cup being there later that year, but we're arming up for that, and then the Intercontinental playoff, should we make it that far.

For us, that is the main goal, to get to that point and then give ourselves the best chance possible of trying to make the World Cup. We still don't know who we could potentially be facing in the intercontinental playoff, but we're happy to face whoever.

We need games at the moment and time together, and that'll obviously give us our best opportunity.

The All Whites last matches and their only matches with Hay in charge were in November 2019, when they lost to the Republic of Ireland and Lithuania in a pair of European friendlies.

They were scheduled to play Bahrain and Oman in March 2020, but those matches were cancelled when the scale of the Covid-19 pandemic became clear.

Plans to play friendlies in Europe at the end of last year, including against powerhouses Belgium and England, were scuppered when travel restrictions as a result of Covid-19 led to player availability issues.

October 4-12 2021: Two-match international window

November 8-16 2021: Two-match international window

January 2022: Potential Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament

March 21-29 2022: Two-match international window

May 30 June 14 2022: Four-match international window, potentially including a World Cup qualifying intercontinental playoff

September 19-27 2022: Two-match international window

November 21 December 18 2022: Fifa World Cup in Qatar

The rest is here:

All Whites determined to play this year as World Cup qualifying campaign looms - Stuff.co.nz