All Whites v Egypt | Sat 23rd March | 9:00am | FIFA+

Okay I'll have crack at a naming
This was the 23 man squad for the November games (Greece & Ireland).

Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud
Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Tommy Smith, Finn Surman, Dalton Wilkins
Midfielders: Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Clayton Lewis, Callum McCowatt, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic
Forwards: Joey Champness, Alex Greive, Eli Just, Max Mata, Ben Waine, Chris Wood

For March I'd go with
24 man Squad (so one extra player being a competitive tourney)

Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Oli Sail

Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Bill Tuiloma, Finn Surman, McGarry (James)

Midfielders: Joe Bell, Matt Dibley-Dias, Matt Garbett, Clayton Lewis, Ben Old, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic

Forwards: Kosta Barbarouses, Marco Rojas, Callum McCowatt, Eli Just, Ben Waine, Chris Wood

So changes for March -
Ins - Sail, Tuiloma, McGarry, Dibley-Dias, Old, Barba & Rojas 
Outs - Woud, Wilkins, Tommy Smith, Champness, Greive, Mata
Still unavailable - Thomas, Jack Iredale?
Very unlucky - Rufer
Not match fit/Unattached FC - Champness. Same I guess Marinovic
If injured replace with - if either Garbett or Wood are out. In comes Rufer or Mata


If Jack Iredale is eligible I'd like to see him in for either McGarry or Pijnaker. If you are only allowed 23 players, drop one of Pijnaker or Lewis.

Edit - could be some availability issues as usual with some of Crocombe, Bindon, Boxall or Tuiloma. League One playing through the March window and same MLS.

Looks okay for Bindon as Reading no games scheduled in the window at the moment but Burton Albion (5 pts above the drop zone) are down to play Port Vale 24th March. If Crocs is unavailable Tzanev or Woud for 3rd GK.

coochiee

Okay I'll have crack at a naming
This was the 23 man squad for the November games (Greece & Ireland).

Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud
Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Tommy Smith, Finn Surman, Dalton Wilkins
Midfielders: Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Clayton Lewis, Callum McCowatt, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic
Forwards: Joey Champness, Alex Greive, Eli Just, Max Mata, Ben Waine, Chris Wood

For March I'd go with
24 man Squad (so one extra player being a competitive tourney)

Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Oli Sail

Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Bill Tuiloma, Finn Surman, Michael McGarry

Midfielders: Joe Bell, Matt Dibley-Dias, Matt Garbett, Clayton Lewis, Ben Old, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic

Forwards: Kosta Barbarouses, Marco Rojas, Callum McCowatt, Eli Just, Ben Waine, Chris Wood

So changes for March -
Ins - Sail, Tuiloma, McGarry, Dibley-Dias, Old, Barba & Rojas 
Outs - Woud, Wilkins, Tommy Smith, Champness, Greive, Mata
Still unavailable - Thomas, Jack Iredale?
Very unlucky - Rufer
Not match fit/Unattached FC - Champness. Same I guess Marinovic
If injured replace with - if either Garbett or Wood are out. In comes Rufer or Mata


If Jack Iredale is eligible I'd like to see him in for either McGarry or Pijnaker. If you are only allowed 23 players, drop one of Pijnaker or Lewis.

Edit - could be some availability issues as usual with some of Crocombe, Bindon, Boxall or Tuiloma. League One playing through the March window and same MLS.

Looks okay for Bindon as Reading no games scheduled in the window at the moment but Burton Albion (5 pts above the drop zone) are down to play Port Vale 24th March. If Crocs is unavailable Tzanev or Woud for 3rd GK.

Michael McGarry would be a little out of left field, maybe past his best these days.

Nelfoos

coochiee

Okay I'll have crack at a naming
This was the 23 man squad for the November games (Greece & Ireland).

Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud
Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Tommy Smith, Finn Surman, Dalton Wilkins
Midfielders: Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Clayton Lewis, Callum McCowatt, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic
Forwards: Joey Champness, Alex Greive, Eli Just, Max Mata, Ben Waine, Chris Wood

For March I'd go with
24 man Squad (so one extra player being a competitive tourney)

Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Oli Sail

Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Bill Tuiloma, Finn Surman, Michael McGarry

Midfielders: Joe Bell, Matt Dibley-Dias, Matt Garbett, Clayton Lewis, Ben Old, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic

Forwards: Kosta Barbarouses, Marco Rojas, Callum McCowatt, Eli Just, Ben Waine, Chris Wood

So changes for March -
Ins - Sail, Tuiloma, McGarry, Dibley-Dias, Old, Barba & Rojas 
Outs - Woud, Wilkins, Tommy Smith, Champness, Greive, Mata
Still unavailable - Thomas, Jack Iredale?
Very unlucky - Rufer
Not match fit/Unattached FC - Champness. Same I guess Marinovic
If injured replace with - if either Garbett or Wood are out. In comes Rufer or Mata


If Jack Iredale is eligible I'd like to see him in for either McGarry or Pijnaker. If you are only allowed 23 players, drop one of Pijnaker or Lewis.

Edit - could be some availability issues as usual with some of Crocombe, Bindon, Boxall or Tuiloma. League One playing through the March window and same MLS.

Looks okay for Bindon as Reading no games scheduled in the window at the moment but Burton Albion (5 pts above the drop zone) are down to play Port Vale 24th March. If Crocs is unavailable Tzanev or Woud for 3rd GK.

Michael McGarry would be a little out of left field, maybe past his best these days.

Haha, and shouldn't that be Wynton Rufer?!

Oops Jimmy McGarry as I’m sure he’s called in Scotland. Newish Grandad Mike would still be sheer class in the Otago Masters grades I imagine

Oh and wonder if Wood isn’t available, could Bazeley be tempted to mimic how the Nix play sans Zawada. That might surprise the Egyptians who I imagine, will be focusing their analysis on our one known player and big EPL centre forward. 

So Baze maybe tempted to start Paulsen even if Crocs is available, with a play it out from the back, looking to methodically create some space approach, without any big striker to hoof it forward to and hold it up. The AWs actually looked reaaly good the last 30 mins against Ireland, when Wood came off and Singh was pulling the strings

Even if the Woodsman is available for this UAE tourney he won’t be that match fit. Hard to do much cardio when you are resting a dodgy hammy. Him walking around on one leg won’t help the AWs much. I think we saw that a bit last Oct & Nov, when he was battling niggles

I don't know why you'd increase the squad size for a competitive tournament. If you were taking it seriously you'd do less rotation. 23 was until very recently the number for World Cup squads (which would play between 3 and 7 games). Drop Dibley-Dias out, he can link up with the OlyWhites instead. We should have more respect for the All Whites shirt than giving it out to anyone playing for a PL youth team, especially when that player isn't even willing to commit his long-term future to us. Call him up when he gets some first team minutes under his belt.

Otherwise agree with your squad, but it's far too rational so it won't be what we get. I'd bet Bazeley will probably pick and start Woud against Egypt and/or pick de Vries instead of McGarry, something like that. 

Edit: thinking about it further, it's such an insult to Rufer and the A-League generally to pick Dibley-Dias over him at this moment in time.  

Went for 24, as couldn't really decide who to leave out. Plus if Garbett & Wood go they could be on limited mins. But yeah it will more logically be a 22 or 23 man squad.

Dibley-Dias is part of Fulham's EPL senior squad. He sat on the bench for 2 EPL matches last season, and 1 this season back in August before getting injured with the AWs in camp. He played mins in some pre season games for the Cottagers. Who knows, if he hadn't got injured (required an operation) he may have made his EPL debut by now.

I'm sure he'd be good enough to be a regular ALM starter, and likely a stand out in a league, that more than ever is a development/selling league with lots of young players.

Rufer yes will be unlucky to miss out if that rumour is true. If not the UAE, I'd say he'll get a call up for June's OFC Nations Cup, that a few of the Euro/MLS based guys may skip.

Bit harsh if Rufer misses out. Maybe too similar to Bell and Lewis.

Id have Rufer over Dibley Dias and Oldl. He's just more reliable in my mind.

Id also have Sail ahead of Would. Would has made way too many crazy errors. Either way Sail will be the 3rd keeper with Croc being the number 1! 

Surely Storm R is a better option than McGarry?

It’s Woud.
Roux plays on the right, McGarry on the left

Rufer and Old completely different players. Old is on fire and the most comparable player to Garbett who must be under an injury cloud. Hasn’t played for 2-3 weeks after dislocating his shoulder. Box to box midfield role, charging through the middle 

Kind of agree about Roux. Unlucky to be overlooked recently. He's been playing extremely for CCM l this season and last. Payne is performing better right now but Roux definitely deserves to be in the conversation.

Mike McGarry in his heyday would walk into any AWs team of any generation.

I wonder if Kirwan will skip this one? Serie C doesn't stop for FIFA windows and he is battling it out for promotion...or maybe we'll see reduced involvement from him

newzealandpower

I wonder if Kirwan will skip this one? Serie C doesn't stop for FIFA windows and he is battling it out for promotion...or maybe we'll see reduced involvement from him

Not sure Kirwan will be picked. I've gone for Payne as the sole specialist RB with Tuiloma & Bindon as cover. Bazeley picked Kirwan for the October window last year, but was dropped for the November games. In Oct he started against The Congo, then a sub against Australia - a game Tuiloma started a RB.

No ALM guys including Payne were picked for the October games. Tuiloma played more games at RB last year than Kirwan, who admittedly was returning from injury.

What will give yes Kirwan a chance is that he now playing more regularly for Padova - likely he's just needed time to get over the ACL injury fully, and get proper fit again. Plus Chiefy may ask Baze to have Payne on restricted mins. The up & down, full back/wing back role can be the toughest physically. Post the Adelaide game, Italiano alluded to being happy for his players to be called up to the AWs, as long as they were 'looked after'. Returning home in business class etc.

Also Tuiloma's availability for the UAE could be under a cloud, given he's in a battle to get mins at Charlotte, so may decide to focus on his club. The MLS not pausing for the March window.

So yes Kirwan could well be recalled by Bazeley. I guess if both him & Tuiloma are unavailable, Roux as backup to Payne. Or Callan Elliot could be a chance. He's at least in a pro environmentnow  training at Motherwell, if not playing. He's been in the AWs setup more recently than Roux (March & June last year).

And then Dalton Wilkins (was in the AWs squad in Nov) was mostly playing as a RB for Kolding. But he's yet to play for his new club SønderjyskE, since the season in Denmark resumed. Be interesting to see if he's on the left or right for SønderjyskE who are eying promotion to the Danish Superliga

Woud does have much more experience as a number 3 keeper than Oli, though…

The NZ right back situation is so interesting. So odd how few chances Roux has been given. Dane Ingham was given way too many. Elliot is a bit of a wildcard, you feel like he might become great or just never fix his defensive weaknesses. He was either advised very poorly or has a lack of understanding of how the world works and/or a misplaced sense of entitlement given what happened with his inability to agree terms with the Nix for this season. Kirwan has looked decent in a white shirt but plays at Serie C level for a long long time, which is not a particularly good level of football. Payne has looked great for the Nix at RB but has never fully convinced in a white shirt. 

Wouldn't it just be nice to have a right-sided Cacace too? 

Payne had a very good game from memory against Ireland. Certainly a big hand in Garbett's goal.

And he's had a good season at the Nix, though a bit off the last few weeks.

He didn't look too bad against Ireland but in general across his AWs career he has looked a shadow of his Nix RB self. I'd be quite happy if he showed the same sort of consistency in a white shirt, let's hope he can.

I have a suspicion that Rojas won't be in this window's squad, he was asked earlier this week in an interview about the national team, he stated his ambition to try and make the 26 WC if he could, and said that he hoped that process could start in June. June has nothing to do with WC qualifying, so why not mention the games this month? He'd surely have known by the time of the interview whether he was in the squad or not. 

TBF this season has been far and away Payne’s best at RB. He’s been encouraged to get forward and a strong defensive midfield has covered his runs to great effect. 

Last game he almost scored a header from the centre of the 6 yard box! You know CF territory. 

And I wasn’t joking that statistically he’s been better attacking than Irankunda, plus he’s done a lot of defending too.

Though likely the AWs won’t provide bodies in the box for him to pass to and won’t cover him sufficiently from the midfield so the impact of his play will be reduced…

imanixsupporter

He didn't look too bad against Ireland but in general across his AWs career he has looked a shadow of his Nix RB self. I'd be quite happy if he showed the same sort of consistency in a white shirt, let's hope he can.

I have a suspicion that Rojas won't be in this window's squad, he was asked earlier this week in an interview about the national team, he stated his ambition to try and make the 26 WC if he could, and said that he hoped that process could start in June. June has nothing to do with WC qualifying, so why not mention the games this month? He'd surely have known by the time of the interview whether he was in the squad or not. 

Maybe Rojas made himself unavailable to Bazeley for the UAE, as he just wants to concentrate on the ALM, given his club future beyond this season is uncertain. Or Baze didn't pick him as he feels this time, he has enough wingers. Likely means Mata and/or Greive are retained, which given the big question mark over Wood, I guess is understandable.

And yeah it wouldn't surprise if a few Euro/MLS guys bypass June's Nations Cup, so the squad then may have more a ALM and/or U23s flavour.

And with Payne, I'd say his AWs career has pretty much married his up & down Nix career. And of course with the AWs he is most often coming up against higher calibre opponents, compared to the ALM. But he's now settled with the Nix as a specialist RB (no more switching between that role & CB), and he has a real opportunity to make that role his own in the National team heading into the 2026 WC. 

It's not unusual to not match club form at international level - it's meant to be a higher plane (I know that doesn't always apply in Oceania, but saying someone doesn't look as good against international opposition as they do against Brisbane or Macarthur is kind of logical...)

Of course, non-Oceania international football is a higher level than the A-League, I just thought it remarkable how much Payne in particular seemed to look a much worse player for the All Whites.

I also disagree that this is by far and away Payne's best season at RB. People might have forgotten but there was a time when he was in great form as a dedicated right back for the Nix, before he was moved to CB. I think he was moved to CB because of frailties there more than because he wasn't performing at RB. He was always a much better RB than CB. 

imanixsupporter

Of course, non-Oceania international football is a higher level than the A-League, I just thought it remarkable how much Payne in particular seemed to look a much worse player for the All Whites.

I also disagree that this is by far and away Payne's best season at RB. People might have forgotten but there was a time when he was in great form as a dedicated right back for the Nix, before he was moved to CB. I think he was moved to CB because of frailties there more than because he wasn't performing at RB. He was always a much better RB than CB. 

Best output perhaps? Most successful season? 

He had a short partnership with Gary Hooper, before one or both of them got injured. But his range of play was early crossing.

But I honestly love how he’s played this season. Sometimes marauding through the center, cutting onto his left to shoot AND THEN NAILING IT HOME, being at CF for headers, defending doggedly, less of the whining and looking for the ref’s assistance and results for him and the team! He’s had better output than many of the wing forwards in the league. Looking awkward on the ball, but unleashing like Vinicius Junior! 

Honestly enjoyed it a lot more than any other season I’ve watched him. Apart from maybe the Wales game. 

martinb

TBF this season has been far and away Payne’s best at RB. He’s been encouraged to get forward and a strong defensive midfield has covered his runs to great effect. 

Last game he almost scored a header from the centre of the 6 yard box! You know CF territory. 

And I wasn’t joking that statistically he’s been better attacking than Irankunda, plus he’s done a lot of defending too.

Though likely the AWs won’t provide bodies in the box for him to pass to and won’t cover him sufficiently from the midfield so the impact of his play will be reduced…

Tim Payne first came to prominence as a gun teenager playing centre forward for Waitakere Utd. 

I think Timmy is way better on attack then defence. 

This is why he looks good going forward for the Nix but is generally poor for the AWs where we spend most of the time trying to keep the ball out of our own net (I'll never forget his fudge up with Sail in Barcelona).

In his younger days for Blackburn and the AWs he played as an attacking mid which makes a lot of sense. We've never seen him play like that at the Nix where he's been shoehorned in as a RB/CB.

Oh for a right sided Libby or Kelly-Heald.

Lol. LKH had a stinker last night. And fullback is not his natural position. I'd want far better for the All Whites than a right sided version of him. 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350207012/ben-old-set-join-growing-all-whites-core-road-2026-fifa-world-cup

A 24 man squad after all. Looks like Wood & Garbett will be in and Rojas & Dibley-Dias will be out 

Good news re Wood & Garbett.

Though imagine the Woodsman will be on restricted mins, and what we don't want is a Wood only walking around the field. Not saying that will happen, but again the AWs almost looked better when he left the field against Ireland, and Singh became the main man. Back then like now CW was returning from an injury, and not at full sharpness for those games.

Squad to be named tomorrow. If there is to be a surprise call up, maybe Jay Herdman.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350207012/ben-old-set-join-growing-all-whites-core-road-2026-fifa-world-cup

The signs are positive for the inclusion of captain and star striker Chris Wood, who returned to training with Nottingham Forest this week after suffering a hamstring injury in late January.

Old is viewed as a player on the same wavelength as Garbett, Joe Bell, Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, Sarpreet Singh and Marko Stamenic, who are starting to form a core group of young midfielders ahead of the start of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup later this year.

With four goals and three assists to his name in the first 19 rounds this A-League Men season, there is every chance Old could earn his first All Whites start this month, with McCowatt, who started on the left of a front three in both matches in November, the player most likely to make way.

Old’s Phoenix team-mate Kosta Barbarouses is also expected to be recalled to the All Whites and make his first appearance in a squad since last March, after scoring 10 goals and setting up four others heading into round 20 this weekend.

The March international window is likely to come too soon for Marco Rojas, who only made his first start for Brisbane Roar last weekend, after joining them at the end of January. While uncapped Fulham youngster Matt Dibley-Dias is back playing for their under-21 team, he is also unlikely to be there.

Wonder if we ever see Dibley-Dias again. He went out of his way to make it clear he wasn't committing his future to NZ and then immediately got a long-term injury as soon as he showed up to camp. Perhaps he might think it is not worth the risk anymore, at such a crucial stage of his career where he is going to be making a move from u21s to senior football, be that at Fulham or somewhere else. 

That means no Rufer? Or him and Lewis competing for one spot?

Article makes no mention of Rufer either way, Piney was either informed or made an educated guess earlier this week that Rufer was not on the squad shortlist and was only on standby.

I think you can maybe infer he isn't in given the article says Old and Kosta are, seeing as they like Rufer also weren't in recent squads. 

Edit: I also think this would be an awful moment to call up Herdman, he is on the fringes of the first team and MLS doesn't stop for the window. Surely Baze isn't so stupid

imanixsupporter

Article makes no mention of Rufer either way, Piney was either informed or made an educated guess earlier this week that Rufer was not on the squad shortlist and was only on standby.

I think you can maybe infer he isn't in given the article says Old and Kosta are, seeing as they like Rufer also weren't in recent squads. 

Edit: I also think this would be an awful moment to call up Herdman, he is on the fringes of the first team and MLS doesn't stop for the window. Surely Baze isn't so stupid

Yes fair point about Herdman & Vancouver. He would miss at least one MLS game. But he may only be in their squad currently due to other players being injured?? Whitecaps play later today, so will see if he's in that match day squad.

Each young player is different. Chiefy said last week he wants as many players called up by Bazeley as possible, as long as they are looked after flying business class on the long flights etc. But otherwise yes he sees real value in young players especially, getting international experience.

Maybe Fulham see a different plan for Dibley-Dias at the moment, with him not having not long returned from surgery. An injury he got in AWs camp last year??

But yeah I think D-D would definitely like to play at the Paris Olympics. That won't cap tie him??  Just in case England, Brazil or Portugal ever did come calling. Who knows he goes to the Olympics loves the environment with lots of other talented young players, and commits himself to NZ. But suspect he will give the OFC Nations Cup a swerve (as Tyler Boyd did last time it was played) as yes that will cap tie him to NZ.

Realistically Dibley-Dias won't be good enough for any of the 3 big teams above. But I don't really have a problem if he takes another 12 months or so to decide for good in the lead up to 2026 WC. And as long as the other AWs players are okay with it as well, just see what happens. 

Yeah maybe better to hope to see Herdman & Dibley-Dias at the Olympics. But I hope NZF seeks some sort of assurance from D-D that he is keen to commit his future to us if he is to go. I was pretty mad when Stensness declared he was switching allegiance back to Australia immediately after the last Olympics. 

Difference is it's England, Brazil and Portugal, not friggin Australia.

I notiice Stensness hasn't played for Aus since March 22... funny the way things turn out

lthomas20

Difference is it's England, Brazil and Portugal, not friggin Australia.

I notiice Stensness hasn't played for Aus since March 22... funny the way things turn out

True, but (to be fair it is all speculative) either way it's not the best thing to have a guy umming and ahhing about representing the country when there are loads of players who'd do anything for a chance. Hopefully there's solid commitment, because it can even be considered a little disrespectful.

Also, to be fair to Stensness, he's had a horror run with injury. He missed the latter half of the 2022 Eliteserien season (so was injured when Socceroos came here) and thus hadn't had the minutes under the belt for the World Cup. Then, of course, he did his ACL last year, and missed most of the Eliteserien again in 2023. He might not have played, but he was called up for their friendly against Argentina in Beijing in June 2023 (the last window he was fit for), so he's definitely not gone off radar.

If we think he won't ever get a call up from those other countries then surely we can put our foot down, say commit if you want to be able to play for us and to have a shot at playing at a World Cup, or you can fudge off.

He hasn't done shark to deserve special treatment. Chris James was also a big star at Fulham youth level (though I do think he wasted his career and he should have been given more chances to play for the All Whites given how good he was in a white shirt).

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/mar/10/liverpool-boosted-as-egypt-agree-to-leave-mohamed-salah-out-of-friendlies

Also bear in mind this tournie is in the middle of Ramadhan - the kickoffs will be late enough so the Egyptians will have broken fast, but it still can have a big impact on energy levels overall.  Just another little factor to chuck into the mix.

Are we expecting a squad named today?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350207257/six-wellington-phoenix-players-all-whites-no-room-alex-rufer
Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Oli Sail

Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Dane Ingham, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Tommy Smith, Finn Surman

Midfielders: Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Clayton Lewis, Callum McCowatt, Ben Old, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic

Forwards: Kosta Barbarouses, Elijah Just, Max Mata, Ben Waine, Chris Wood
No Rojas, Rufer, Tuiloma, Woud.

Unbelievable that Ingham is the backup RB ahead of Roux & Kirwan.

Otherwise a fairly sensible squad. But I'd have dropped Mata and picked Rufer instead. We don't need 3 specialist centre forwards. Old & McCowatt are really forwards not midfielders.