Following their back-to-back wins against Curaçao and Bahrain earlier this month, the men’s national team have locked in Gambia as their next opponent for the November international window. 

The All Whites will face The Scorpions on Tuesday 16 November (Wednesday 17 November NZT) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The game at the Zayed Sport City Stadium will kick-off at 8pm local time (5am NZT). 

As part of the build-up to the match, the team will also play a warm-up fixture on Friday 12 November (Saturday 13 November NZT) with the opposition due to be announced shortly. The game will also be played at the Zayed Sport City Stadium, kicking-off at 8pm local time (5am NZT).

“It’s hugely important that we keep up the momentum from the October games so I’m delighted we are able to lock-in these fixtures” said Head Coach Danny Hay.   

“We know we are playing catch up with other nations, after not playing because of Covid restrictions, so now want to take every opportunity to get together as a squad and continue to build the culture and understanding on and off the pitch. 

“These games will be another good test for us. It also gives us another opportunity to acclimatise to the conditions in the Middle East ahead of potential OFC games here.”

As with the games in the October window, Hay anticipates having to select a squad without any New Zealand or Australia-based players. 

“It’s a tough one for the A-League players at the moment but you can already see things are starting to open up which is positive. Hopefully this is the last window where we are restricted in who we can select but, as was show by the games against Bahrain and Curaçao, I have every faith in the squad we will be assembling.”

Article added: Saturday 30 October 2021