The qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile in October 2015 gets underway for New Zealand in Samoa on January 13.
The tournament is being jointly hosted by Samoa and American Samoa, with New Zealand drawn in Group A alongside hosts Samoa, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Caledonia.
Figueira’s team includes players hailing from six of the seven federations with two players; Wellington Phoenix forward James McGarry and WaiBOP United striker Connor Porbert, sons of former All Whites Michael McGarry and Paul Probert.
A large number of the squad have been playing for the Wanderers SC side competing in the ASB Youth League which finished in December, and Figueira says that preparation has been an ideal lead-in for the qualifying event.
“Being able to play in the ASB Youth League has been invaluable, not just for the players but obviously for myself to monitor them and see them playing against really tough opposition week in-week out,” Figueira said.
“Being able to play 11 games; and competitive games that they were, has really given us a great stepping stone to prepare the squad and ID the ones who I feel are ready to take on the task in Samoa.”
Almost all of the squad have been part of the National Talent Centre programme and Figueira says that development structure has had big benefits for the players around the country as well as the coaching staff.
“The fact I can travel around the country and go to the various NTC centres and observe these players first-hand is again really valuable for me to get a good mark on where they are.
“The quality of coaches is fantastic at the NTCs and being able to step back and see the players from outside has been great for me.
“I think gone are the days where we associate the main hubs with housing all the talent. We are now seeing, especially in this age-group, a good contingent from the South Island and having those training programmes in place and the connection I have with FDMs [Football Development Managers] and coaches across the country means that we can keep a tab on the talent throughout the country.”
Figueira says the work done in the NTC and other programmes has produced a good blend of players in the squad with a strong accent on players capable of influencing the outcomes of games in the attacking third.
“I’m really excited about this age group. We’ve got some really exciting, attacking, creative and technical players which perhaps always haven’t been there in the past. There seems to be a really nice balance across the team.”
Those attacking skills will be tested as part of a tournament which for the first time at the U-17 age group (and second time in Oceania tournament history) includes all 11 OFC Member Associations, something that excites the New Zealand coach.
“I think it’s fantastic for the region that all 11 member nations will be represented at this age group tournament. For the region that’s great for football and the growth.
“Historically New Zealand has always done well at this age group and qualified so while that always bears on the back of the mind, we know it’s not going to be an easy task.
“Nations such as Tahiti, New Caledonia and Fiji have been developing over the past few years so it’s not going to be simple but we’ll go over there and give it our all.”
New Zealand’s first match of the OFC U-17 Championship is on 13 January against Fiji.
New Zealand U-17 Men’s squad
Goalkeepers
Reuben Clark – Onehunga Sports/Auckland Football
Michael Woud – Waitakere City/Northern Football
Defenders
Sione Fa’apoi – Fencibles Utd AFC/Auckland Football
Luke Johnson – Hamilton Wanderers/WaiBOP Football
Ben Mata – Onehunga Sports/Auckland Football
Jack-Henry Sinclair – Three Kings Utd/Central Football
Liam Williams – WaiBOP Utd/WaiBOP Football
Sam Wilson – Wellington Phoenix/Mainland Football
Midfielders
Oliver Ceci – Queenstown Rovers/Football South
Billy Jones – Onehunga Sports/Auckland Football
Daniel Lough – Birkenhead Utd AFC/Northern Football
Louie Mills – Birkenhead Utd AFC/Northern Football
Sarpreet Singh – Onehunga Sports/Auckland Football
Forwards
Jack Anderson – East Coast Bays AFC/Northern Football
Ben Kiore – Green Island AFC/Football South
James McGarry – Wellington Phoenix/Football South
Connor Probert – WaiBOP Utd/WaiBOP Football
Logan Rogerson – Hamilton Wanderers/WaiBOP Football
Sean Skeens – Birkenhead Utd AFC/Northern Football
Jamie Woodlock – Hamilton Wanderers/WaiBOP Football
Head coach: Jose Figueira

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