Coach Darren Bazeley named his touring squad for two matches against Uzbekistan in early April, shortly after the All Whites meet Korea Republic in Seoul on April 1 (NZ time).
Defenders Deklan Wynne and Sam Brotherton will make their way from Korea to Tashkent along with midfielder Clayton Lewis and striker Joel Stevens while three members of the management staff – including Bazeley – will also join the squad in Uzbekistan.
“I think it’s great we can align as much as we can with Anthony [Hudson] and the All Whites,” Bazeley said.
“He said to some of our players ‘if you work hard, get the system and show how good you are’ he’ll give them opportunities. It happened on the last All Whites trip where we had five U-20s involved.
“It’s great for those boys. They are going to go away, hopefully get game time like they did last time, and as soon as that game is finished we’ll be on a flight to Uzbekistan for another two games. It’s exciting times for our players who are going to get two camps in a two-and-half-week period.”
Having begun the cycle monitoring a group of over 70 players, Bazeley says the Uzbekistan trip will help narrow the focus as he looks identify the pool of players to eventually make up the final squad to contest the FIFA U-20 World Cup which begins on May 30 against Ukraine.
“It’s constant identification and assessment of the players. Can they perform at an elite level?
“We’ll learn a lot from the training and the games they play in. We’ve worked with the New Zealand based players a lot over the last six months. It is an opportunity to see some of our players who are offshore.”
Brotherton tours with the Men’s U-20 squad for the first time while goalkeeper Nik Tzanev (Brentford FC, England), striker Noah Billingsley (Wanderers SC) and midfielders Moses Dyer (Wanderers SC) and Nicholas Del Moro (Acqui Unione Sportiva 1911, Italy) will also be in line to make their first age-group appearances.
Tzanev was born in Wellington and lived in New Zealand until moving to England in 2006 while Del Moro grew up in Auckland before moving offshore as a teenager.
Matt Ridenton was not selected with the Wellington Phoenix midfielder on the road back from injury while Bill Tuiloma will remain with French Ligue 1 club Olympique Marseille with the tour outside of a designated FIFA window.
Bazeley’s team will meet an Uzbekistan side which will also be in New Zealand in May having been drawn in Group F along with Germany, Honduras and Fiji.
Qualifying by virtue of their semi-final finish at the Asian U-19 Championship, Uzbekistan claimed their place at the age-group showcase ahead of traditionally strong senior sides Japan, Australia and Korea Republic.
The Men’s U-20 side depart for their two-match tour on March 30.
Men’s U-20 squad v Uzbekistan
Goalkeepers
Oliver Sail – Wellington Phoenix, NZL
Nik Tzanev – Brentford FC, ENG
Defenders
Samuel Brotherton – Wanderers SC, NZL
Cory Brown – Xavier University, USA
Jesse Edge – Vicenza Calcio, ITA
Brock Messenger – Wanderers SC, NZL
Adam Mitchell – Wanderers SC, NZL
Deklan Wynne – Wanderers SC, NZL
Midfielders
Andrew Blake – Wellington Phoenix, NZL
Andre de Jong – Wanderers SC, NZL
Nicholas Del Moro – Acqui Unione Sportiva 1911, ITA
Moses Dyer – Wanderers SC, NZL
Clayton Lewis – Wanderers SC, NZL
Forwards
Judd Baker – Wanderers SC, NZL
Noah Billingsley – Wanderers SC, NZL
Monty Patterson – Ipswich Town FC, ENG
Alex Rufer – Wellington Phoenix, NZL
Joel Stevens – Wellington Phoenix, NZL
Birhanu Taye – SKF Sered, SLO
Management staff
Head coach: Darren Bazeley
Assistant coach: Neil Emblen
Goalkeeper coach: Paul Gothard
Manager: Rod Grove
Performance Analyst: Jase Kim
Physio: Allan Pearce
Match schedule
Uzbekistan v Men’s U-20s
Saturday 4 April
Tashkent
Uzbekistan v Men’s U-20s
Monday 6 April
Tashkent
Courtesy NZF Media. For more on New Zealand football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz.