All Whites back in action with friendlies, but a place at the World Cup remains their focus – Stuff.co.nz

If all goes according to plan, the All Whites matches this month will be a footnote when the history books are written.

From Winston Reid and Chris Wood on down, they want 2022 to stand alongside 2010 and 1982 as a year where New Zealand played at a mens World Cup.

To get to Qatar for the main event in November, theyre going to have to win the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament there in March and an intercontinental playoff there in June.

STUFF

Danny Hay will use the All Whites' friendlies against Jordan and Uzbekistan to prepare for greater tests ahead

Six months out from that potential one-off fixture, against the fourth-placed team from North and Central America and the Caribbean, they appear to be better positioned than they were at the same stage in the last two World Cup cycles.

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A core group of players emerged last year, when coach Danny Hays tenure finally got started for real, after being stalled, like so many things, by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wins over Curaao, Bahrain, and The Gambia ensured there was a buzz around the team, even though those fixtures were just seventh, eighth, and ninth they had played since the last intercontinental playoff, against Peru in 2017.

With The Gambia advancing to the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations this weekend and Algeria A, who the All Whites defeated in a non-cap earning fixture, winning the Fifa Arab Cup prior to Christmas those results in 2021 have only got better with time.

But the hope is their fixtures against Jordan [kickoff Saturday 4am NZ time] and Uzbekistan [kickoff Wednesday 4am NZ time] will be tougher and give Hay, his players, and fans a clear picture of where the team stands as they head into must-win territory.

All Whites matches against teams outside Oceania are so rare and come against such a wide range of opponents that they arent easily forgotten.

The last time they played Jordan, ahead of the intercontinental playoff against Bahrain in 2009, they won 3-1 a result that gave the country hope it could make it back to the World Cup after a 28-year wait.

The last time they played Uzbekistan was Anthony Hudsons first match in charge a 3-1 loss in 2014 that featured Jeremy Brockies only international goal.

But in less than five months 20 weeks time they will either be off to the World Cup or not, and the results and details of these coming matches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai will forever sit in the shadow of that outcome.

The focus is really on World Cup qualifying, Hay said during his pre-match press conference.

Let's not beat about the bush we need to know exactly where our strengths and weakness lie, so that we can give ourselves the best chance possible of making the World Cup. When I talk about World Cup qualifying, hopefully we can get through that Oceania stage and then get onto the intercontinental [playoff] and can win that as well.

Hay is expected to be generous in distributing playing time over the two matches and the likes of Francis de Vries, Logan Rogerson, Clayton Lewis, and Tim Payne who joined Hay in speaking to media ahead of the Jordan match should all get chances to show what they have to offer.

A number of players are going to get opportunities that they potentially haven't had in the past, Hay said.

We've got a guy sitting right next to me now [Payne] I know exactly what he's capable of, but we need to see that again on the international stage, so that he can try and put a stake in the ground in terms of making sure that if we make it to Qatar at the back end of the year, then he's a big part of that.

There's going to be some big decisions to make, not just looking that far ahead, but for World Cup qualifying as well who's going to play in the big games. A lot of players are going to get opportunities, and they've got to show us what they're capable of.

Hay said Payne, Wood and goalkeeper Michael Woud would all start against Jordan, but that Joe Bell was unlikely to start, while managing a niggle. Alex Greive only arrived in camp late on Wednesday after replacing Andre de Jong, while Joey Champness arrival from Turkey was delayed until Thursday after a blizzard prevented him from flying out.

Goalkeepers: Matthew Gould, Jamie Searle, Michael Woud

Defenders: Michael Boxall, Nikko Boxall, Francis de Vries, Kelvin Kalua, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Winston Reid, Tommy Smith, Bill Tuiloma, Dalton Wilkins

Midfielders: Joe Bell, Clayton Lewis, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic

Forwards: Joey Champness, Alex Greive, Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, Logan Rogerson, Chris Wood

Saturday, January 29, 4am: v Jordan; New York University Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Wednesday, February 2, 4am: v Uzbekistan; The Sevens Stadium, Dubai

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All Whites back in action with friendlies, but a place at the World Cup remains their focus - Stuff.co.nz