The preparations for New Zealand’s bid to qualify for the 2020 Toyko Olympics will continue later this month when a group of players are brought together for an U-23 men’s identification camp in Auckland.

The goal of those taking part will be to secure a place in the New Zealand squad for the OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which is set to be staged in Fiji from 21 September to 5 October.

While the purpose of the camp is to assist head coach Des Buckingham in his selections and preparations for the Olympic qualifiers, some of the players involved may get a further chance to impress when the New Zealand U-23 team take on their Australian counterparts in a pair of matches on 6 and 9 September.

The squad for the trip to Australia is set to be named in mid-August while the Olympic qualifiers’ identification camp will be held soon after from 26 – 29 August.

Buckingham will name the group he will be taking to Fiji by the end of August and is looking forward to continuing the momentum gained in recent months.

“The Olympic qualification tournament is our main focus over the coming months and this identification camp will allow players to push for their inclusion into that,” he says.

“With two games against Australia also added, it is an exciting time to be involved and will allow us to continue building on the successful U-20 World Cup and Pacific Games campaigns.”

U-23 men’s identification camp squad

Goalkeepers
Conor Tracey (Central United)
Cam Brown (Central United)
Aidan Munford (Central Coast Mariners)

Defenders
Sean Liddicoat (Coastal Spirit)
Dylan de Jong (Eastern Suburbs)
Ben Mata (Wellington Olympic)
Lewis Miccio (Manly United)
Josh Jones (Central United)
Kelvin Kalua (Eastern Suburbs)
Rob Tipelu (Onehunga Sports)
Jorge Akers (Miramar Rangers)
Jordan Spain (Cashmere Technical)

Midfielders
Hayden McHenery (Brisbane City) 
Yousif Ali (Forrest Hill Milford United)
Jake Porter (Onehunga Sports)
Lachie McIsaac (Birkenhead United)
Gianni Stensness (Unattached)
Leon van den Hoven (Eastern Suburbs)
Kingsley Sinclair (Eastern Suburbs)

Forwards
Maro Bonsu-Maro (Central United)
Myer Bevan (Western Springs)
Ihaia Delaney (Western Suburbs)
Jake Mechell (Eastern Suburbs)
Stafford Dowling (Onehunga Sports)
Charles Spragg (Eastern Suburbs)
Byron Heath (Lower Hutt City)
Tyson Savas (Unattached)
Logan Rogerson (Unattached)
Ben Wade (Caversham) 

Article added: Thursday 08 August 2019