AucklandPhoenix wrote:
The cherry on top - seriously?
Sure in terms of crowds it probably will attract a few thousand Indians getting merry on the beers and therefore will be marketed as a success.
From a football viewpoint however this is preety meh.
And realistically how many players are going to leave their European clubs, fly around the world to play the 138th team?
It’s just going to be an A league team and absolutely nothing will be learned.
We play enough games against Oceania opponents well below our ranking. We shouldn’t be playing friendlies against teams 50 odd places below.
I'm sure we've been on the receiving end of "what, why we are playing the 138th ranked team in the world?!" Conversations before. If we really are that much better than these sort of opponents then let's go out and prove it. Pump them 5 nil across both games. I highly doubt we will.
One of our rare appearances in the mid 2010's when the high performance programme for the mens was a near non-existant was a fifa series-esque tounrmanet with India. It was where a lot of the current crop got their debuts in the jersey. If memory serves we did manage to battle our way to a 2-1 victory over India but we made less of a stellar account in the other fixtures. We've just come off a severe reality check of where we're at compared to the higher ranked teams after a disappointing world cup campain. I think it'll be a great comparison for our boys to go up against India again now that their careers have developed further and see how much improvement there's been and hopefully a chance to get their mojo back. Not to mention a celebration of the first football game at the new stadium in the south island and hopefully a good mix of both home team and away team support. NZF made a promise to the fans theyd bring the all whites home as much as they could each year, and as far as I can see this is them continuing to fulfill that promise. We're looking at four home games in 2026 which is unprecedented in non OFC qualifying years.
We also have made noises about wanting a seat at more meaningful tournaments. We've hosted Malaysia recently and now these India fixtures. It all helps with building those relationships with other governing bodies to maybe ask the question about having a shot at the next ASEAN Cup or even AFC cup.
One of our rare appearances in the mid 2010's when the high performance programme for the mens was a near non-existant was a fifa series-esque tounrmanet with India. It was where a lot of the current crop got their debuts in the jersey. If memory serves we did manage to battle our way to a 2-1 victory over India but we made less of a stellar account in the other fixtures. We've just come off a severe reality check of where we're at compared to the higher ranked teams after a disappointing world cup campain. I think it'll be a great comparison for our boys to go up against India again now that their careers have developed further and see how much improvement there's been and hopefully a chance to get their mojo back. Not to mention a celebration of the first football game at the new stadium in the south island and hopefully a good mix of both home team and away team support. NZF made a promise to the fans theyd bring the all whites home as much as they could each year, and as far as I can see this is them continuing to fulfill that promise. We're looking at four home games in 2026 which is unprecedented in non OFC qualifying years.
We also have made noises about wanting a seat at more meaningful tournaments. We've hosted Malaysia recently and now these India fixtures. It all helps with building those relationships with other governing bodies to maybe ask the question about having a shot at the next ASEAN Cup or even AFC cup.