The New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley has announced his 21-man squad for the under 20 football World Cup. New Zealand is hosting the tournament, which starts at the end of May.
Captained by Olympique Marseille and All Whites midfielder Bill Tuiloma, the squad includes 10 players who have been part of the senior New Zealand team in recent months, including six players who have turned out for their country at the highest level.
Six of the 21 are based overseas with Tuiloma joined off shore by Jesse Edge with Italian club Vicenza Calcio, forward Monty Patterson (Ipswich Town FC) goalkeeper Nik Tsanev (Brentford FC) and United States-based Cory Brown (Xavier University) and Stuart Holthusen (Akron University),
"We've been looking at this squad for the last two years and we've had contact with over 100 players over the course of the two years," Bazeley said.
"Our goal is to make history. No under-20 men's team has ever won a game at a World Cup so our aim is to be the first team to do that; to win games and qualify out of our group and to play in a way that makes the country proud to watch us."
Goalkeepers:
Damian Hirst - Wanderers SC, NZL
Oliver Sail - Wellington Phoenix, NZL
Nik Tzanev - Brentford FC, ENG
Defenders:
Sam 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:
Andre de Jong - Wanderers SC, NZL
Moses Dyer - Wanderers SC, NZL
Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi - Wanderers SC, NZL
Clayton Lewis - Wanderers SC, NZL
Matthew Ridenton - Wellington Phoenix, NZL
Bill Tuiloma (capt) - Olympique Marseille, FRA
Forwards:
Noah Billingsley - Wanderers SC, NZL
Andrew Blake - Wellington Phoenix, NZL
Stuart Holthusen - Akron University, USA
Monty Patterson - Ipswich Town FC, ENG
Alex Rufer - Wellington Phoenix, NZL
Joel Stevens - Wellington Phoenix, NZL
Management staff:
Head coach: Darren Bazeley
Assistant coach: Neil Emblen
Goalkeeper coach: Paul Gothard
Manager: Rod Grove
Group A match schedule:
New Zealand v Ukraine, North Harbour Stadium, Saturday 30 May, 1pm
New Zealand v USA, North Harbour Stadium, Tuesday 2 June, 7pm
New Zealand v Myanmar, Wellington Regional Stadium, Friday 5 June, 7pm