Originally published on FIFA.com

A decade-and-a-half ago Chris Greenacre packed his bags, left his home in northern England and moved halfway across the world to New Zealand to round out his playing days with the Wellington Phoenix. He never returned.

Now a proud citizen of the land where his 11-year-old daughter was born and raised, Greenacre has risen through the coaching ranks and is tasked with fostering the development of another exciting crop of young Kiwi stars.

It’s an honour he describes as an “immense privilege” as the Junior All Whites get set to headline the opening day at the FIFA U-20 World Cup™, where they will face hosts Chile at Santiago’s Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos.

“We came over to Chile for a tour in June and played them twice,” Greenacre explains to FIFA from the team’s base in Santiago. “It’s clear that they really love their football. It’s on every channel on the television and just the way that the fans are makes it so special.

“When the draw came out and we missed maybe some of what you could call the favourites, in the likes of Argentina and Brazil, then I was really hoping that we would get Chile because these kinds of matches are potentially life-changing ones for our players.”

 

Having once again sauntered through qualification, where they downed New Caledonia 4-0 in the final of last year’s OFC U-19 Men’s Championship, the challenge for New Zealand now is all about raising their level on the global stage.

It’s a task that is twinned with what Greenacre sees as an equally important mission: producing the next generation of All Whites at a tournament in which the nation has reached the last 16 at each of the past four editions.

“It really does go both ways for me. Of course, if we look in five or six years’ time and we have several players from this group in the senior set-up then that’s a good reflection of how things have gone.

“I often hear things thrown around though about how it’s not about winning, but that is also a really important factor. When players are in the situation that we will be in for this match against Chile, where you have 45,000 people all against you, then you have to be able to tolerate that and see a game out.

“It’s about knowing how to win, how to handle different situations and then those experiences will set the players up when they become future [senior] internationals.”

On that front, New Zealand has a proud record, with the likes of Tim Payne, Sarpreet Singh, Liberato Cacace and Elijah Just all having graduated from the U-20 World Cup to the senior side.

So focused is Greenacre on ensuring that the conveyor belt keeps moving that he has installed images of previous national squads in the team’s hotel in Chile to serve as a reminder of the heights the current crop could reach.

“On the walls of our team room we've got pictures of previous sides that played at the U-20 World Cup. All those players are represented up there and it's great now to look back on them to see, for example, the likes of Finn Surman, who is now an established part of the All Whites team.

“I want the players to know that there is a genuine pathway, we want to identify with that and keep that production line going.”

The group that Greenacre has selected for Chile 2025 has three players, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Henry Gray and Luke Brooke-Smith, who have already been involved with the All Whites, with Brooke-Smith in particular a real talent.

 

Having become the youngest All White in 45 years when he made his senior debut against Australia earlier this month, the electric 17-year-old winger is already being talked about as potentially one of the best players to have come out of New Zealand since Chris Wood.

While Greenacre, who doubles as the reserve team coach at Wellington, is keen to keep a lid on expectations, he also knows that he has a real prodigy on his hands in the Phoenix starlet.

“It’s not all about Luke because we have several really exiting players in the squad but he’s a special talent for sure. In one way though he’s still a kid and with the attention that he’s rightly getting will come the spotlight and he needs to embrace that. I’m sure he will because he’s a really level-headed kid.”

In the midst of preparing to help forge the careers of this exciting crop of young talent, Greenacre has also been dealing with personal tragedy, with his mother passing away eight weeks ago.

That loss has made the 47-year-old more determined than ever to give his family, and his adopted nation, something to be really proud of when the team returns from South America.

“It's been personally a challenging time so I really want to do well for my family, and for myself and the staff we’re just so excited about what we can do at this tournament.

“I don’t want to label things and say how far we can go but it's about creating memories and something that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

“I’m just so very, very proud to lead this country and have the chance to share these life-changing moments with our players.”

Article added: Saturday 27 September 2025