30 Mar 2011

All Whites under 20 squad named

1:55 pm on 30 March 2011

The Junior All Whites coach Chris Milicich has named his 20-man squad for next month's FIFA Under-20 World Cup qualifiers in Auckland.

Among the squad drawn from leagues in eight different countries, Milicich has selected two players - Birmingham City's Luke Rowe and Melbourne Victory's Marco Rojas - who were also included in Ricki Herbert's wider All Whites squad. Rojas made his international debut against China last week.

A total of eight players have been drawn from professional clubs including Italy-based right back Luke Graham, Germany-based goalkeeper Stefan Marinovich and Wellington Phoenix defender James Musa, while another two players have been selected from US universities.

The balance is largely made up of ASB Premiership regulars including golden boot runner-up Andy Bevin.

Established All White Chris Wood will stay with Brighton as the table-topping League One club, where the striker is on loan, chase promotion to the English Championship.

New Zealand have been drawn with the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia in group B of the seven-nation OFC U-20 Championships, with the winner of the April 29th final qualifying for the 2011 FIFA U-20 Championships in Colombia in July and August.

New Zealand squad for OFC U-20 Championships

Goalkeepers

Stefan MARINOVICH (SV Wehen Wiesbaden, GER)

James MCPEAKE (Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA)

Defenders

Nick BRANCH (Waikato FC)

Liam GRAHAM (Vicenza Calcio, ITA)

Anthony HOBBS (Waitakere United)

James MUSA (Wellington Phoenix)

Luke ROWE (Birmingham City, ENG)

Neko VUJEVICH (Gold Coast United, AUS)

Midfielders

Cory CHETTLEBURG (Sparta Rotterdam, NED)

Ryan DE VRIES (Waitakere United)

Jamie DORIS (Hibernian, SCO)

Colin MURPHY (Boston College, USA)

Marco ROJAS (Melbourne Victory, AUS)

Zane SOLE (Waitakere United)

Adam THOMAS (Auckland City)

Forwards

Andy BEVIN (Hawkes Bay United)

Ryan CAIN (Team Wellington)

Ethan GALBRAITH (Lower Hutt City)

Dakota LUCAS (Waitakere United)

Andrew MILNE (Auckland City)

ON STANDBY:

Cameron LINDSAY (Blackburn Rovers, ENG)

Dale HIGHAM (YoungHeart Manawatu)

Caleb RUFER (Unattached)

Not considered because of injury: Sean LOVEMORE (Waitakere United)

Management

Head Coach: Chris MILICICH

Assistant Coach: Andy HEDGE

Team Manager: Craig ALEXANDER

GK Coach: Mark OATES

Physiotherapist: Justin LOPES

Doctor: Simon WILKINSON

Sport Scientist: Kurt OLSEN

Technical Adviser: Allan JONES