The All Whites have flown out to Denver for the friendly with Mexico without two of their rising young stars.
Defender Tommy Smith's withdrawn from the tour with a back injury and Marco Rojas has been ruled out of the first international due to illness, though the 19-year-old attacking talent is expected to rejoin the team in Adelaide for the Australia game on Sunday.
Smith was named Young Men's Player of the Year at the national awards on Friday night but is having treatment on a prolapsed disc in his back and will miss both matches.
Replacements for the pair will not be called up, leaving the squad at 20 players after Tony Lochhead's injury-enforced withdrawal from the original squad of 23 last week.
