Half a game for the big names then off to the airport to catch the 12.55 am flight to Singapore and links to Europe. Ryan Nelsen did something similar years ago.
It is 6 days before the Nix kick off, short flight after the game and the lads will be ready.
Realise that dosnt cover the fact Chief hasnt had his full squad able to train all together very often for any number of reasons. Short flight and 6 days dosnt hide the fact some will be playing their 3rd game in a short space of time plus throw in the travel. Not an ideal preparation for the start of a season. There will be plenty expecting the guys to be on point from day one.
With Wood Notts Forest, don't play until 21st October Monday night in the UK (Tuesday morning our time).
He hasn't played in NZ since Australia at Eden Park, Sept 2022, when he came off early injured. Then you have to go back to Peru at the ROF in 2017, when he came on 2nd half, half fit with that hammy strain.
Missed China games last March. He's had a bit of a cursed time trying in play in Aotearoa of late. I think the last time he was fully fit for a game in NZ, he scored a hatrick (Solomons 2017)
Highlights Malaysia verus Sth Korea 3-3 draw, as Asian Cup earlier this year. An exciting watch if you have 13 spare mins. The excitable Malaysian commentator loses it when his boys equalise in the 102nd min. I guess their biggest result in many years. A bit like Indonesia they mostly underachieve given their population and fact football is a big sport in their countries. Meanwhile Klinsmann as Sth Korean coach seems a bit bemused by it all. https://youtu.be/wjpw4T1ACyw
Some comments on the Malaysia squad from Niche Cache.
The Malaysia game is the funkier one. They’re an unfamiliar opponent having last played against New Zealand in a pair of matches at an exhibition tournament they hosted in Kuala Lumpur way back in 2000. It was a 0-0 draw in the first meeting before the All Whites beat them 2-0 in the final thanks to goals from Ryan Nelsen and Paul Urlovic.
Of more relevance is that Malaysia failed to progress to the next round of AFC World Cup qualification after finishing third in a group with Kyrgyzstan, Oman, and Chinese Taipei. They did have a 3-3 draw with South Korea earlier in the year in which Romel Morales scored a 90+15’ equaliser (after Son Heung-min had given Korea the lead from the penalty spot ten mins earlier). That was in the Asian Cup group stage but alas they’d already lost 4-0 to Jordan and 1-0 to Bahrain and so had been eliminated before kickoff. But they did stop South Korea from topping the group and it was Malaysia’s first point at an Asian Cup since 1980.
Malaysia were actually coached by a South Korean at that point in time. Kim Pan-gon, though he’s since left them for a club gig at Ulsan HD in his homeland. Spaniard Pau Martí Vicente is now the bossman of the team – a former assistant to Josep Gombau at Adelaide United once upon a time, who has also served deep in the Barcelona academy ranks and more recently was Coach Kim’s assistant with Malaysia. He inherited the job in the same way that Darren Bazeley inherited his (only his process took less than one month whereas NZ Football needed nine months to settle on The Bazemeister).
The thing that sticks out immediately looking at Malaysia’s squad is the cultural array of names. This is a team that heavily relies upon heritage and nationalised players. It’s a fascinating mix. Captain Dion Cools was born in Malaysia but played youth footy for Belgium before switching back (he’s got a parent from each). Striker Darren Lok and defender Daniel Ting were born and raised in England but each with a Malaysian parent (and have since made careers in the Malaysian league). Paulo Josué and Endrick are Brazilian but earned citizenship after many years in the local competition. Romel Morales is the same except he’s from Colombia.
There is a chunky core of locals in the side so we’re only talking about a few key players here... but it’s a notable trend – especially since this is something that the All Whites just don’t do any more. There’s far too much homegrown talent to worry about naturalising any Wellington Phoenix pros. We’ve still had a few heritage blokes who never/hardly lived here – definitions of which can be debated but the most recent debutants of that ilk were probably the Ingham Bros – but the last footballing import to become an All White (i.e. someone who was already a pro player when they moved here, not a kid who gained citizenship) would have to be Andrew Durante.
Malaysia are still going after those fellas. They tried to get Go Ahead Eagles (Netherlands) fullback Mats Deijl on board for this tour but FIFA rejected his eligibility claim as his Malaysian heritage was too far back in the bloodline (it’s gotta be grandparents or parents). Chris Wood’s ex-Burnley teammate Josh Brownhill is another whose eligibility has been speculated by Malaysian media, though nothing’s happened there just yet.
It’s been a crazy year for Malaysian football because, quite frighteningly, there was also a spate of violent assaults on a trio of Malaysian internationals a little while back. Faisal Halim got the worst of it when he was doused with acid by two unidentified men at a shopping mall, causing serious burns requiring ten days in hospital and several surgeries. Thankfully he’s back playing for his club now, albeit needing to wear a protective mask.
Coincidentally, there is one kiwi player in the Malaysian Super League at the moment. 21-year-old goalie Lawton Green, originally from Tauranga, who spent time in Scotland in the Motherwell academy and then at Morton in the third tier, is now at Kuala Lumpur City where he seems to be the third-choice keeper. Hasn’t actually played a senior game yet, according to TransferMarkt.
Back to the original point, the FIFA rankings aren’t very relevant at the best of times but they’re basically garbage when you get beyond the top fifty. The All Whites drew against the top-20 ranked USA last match and yet dropped a place to 95 on the latest update. So while Malaysia are way down at 132, that probably doesn’t represent the challenge they will offer. The Elo Ratings are typically more reliable and they’ve got NZ at 69 (noice) and Malaysia at 141... with Tahiti at 162. Alrighty then.
Head coach Darren Bazeley says he’ll reshuffle the New Zealand team for Monday’s friendly international against Malaysia.
“I’m expecting there’ll be changes, but not wholesale,” Bazeley told a media briefing after the All Whites squad’s arrival in Auckland.
Auckland FC’s training base is at Albany’s North Harbour Stadium where Monday’s match will be staged.
“The pitch is magnificent,” Bazeley said.
“We went and had a look at it yesterday. It’s a carpet. It’ll be great for the players too.
“I think they’ll be really pleased to go and see a nice bit of grass today, a training, which will be good.
“There’ll be no complaints about the pitch tomorrow. It’ll be perfect to play football on, on a perfect Auckland evening.”
“We’re the favourites. It’s an opportunity for us to play … be that team, rather than the team that’s the under-ranked team,” Bazeley said.
“They’ve come across with a big squad.
“I’ve listened to what the coach has been saying, (and) we need to put on a performance at home on a good pitch.”
Malaysia drew 1-1 with Auckland FC in a behind-closed-doors game at Go Media Stadium Mt Smart on Friday, and head coach Paul Marti said it replicated the “very physical, very fast pace and very high intensity” type of game he expects from the All Whites.
Monday’s New Zealand squad will include nine players signed with A-League rivals Auckland FC and the Wellington Phoenix.
“We’ve waited a long time to have two teams in the A-League and a team back up in Auckland,” Bazeley said.
“Wellington have done a great job sort of waving the flag for New Zealand in the league, and now they’ve got competition.
“I think that’s brilliant for us … you see the amount of players that have come through Wellington over the years and played for our under 17.”
New Zealand Football Instagram · newzealandfootball The Malaysia fan zone for Monday's game against the All Whites at North Harbour Stadium has nearly SOLD OUT.
2024-10-03 The following is the list of 27 players that have been called up by national team head coach, Pau Marti to join the Harimau Malaya centralized training camp beginning on Sunday, October 6, 2024 ahead of the Tier 1 International Match against New Zealand at the North Harbor Stadium, Auckland on Monday, October 14, 2024.
NO | NAME | AGE | TEAM 1. | AHMAD SYIHAN HAZMI MOHAMED | 28 | JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM 2. | MATTHEW DAVIES | 29 | JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM 3. | MUHAMAD FEROZ BAHARUDIN | 24 | JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM 4. | LA’VERE LAWRENCE CORBIN-ONG | 33 | JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM 5. | ARIF AIMAN MOHD HANAPI | 22 | JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM 6. | ROMEL MORALES | 27 | JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM 7. | MUHAMMAD HAZIQ AIMAN MOHD ESA | 19 | JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM II 8. | MUHAMMAD SAFAWI RASID | 27 | TERENGGANU FC 9. | MUHAMMAD AKHYAR ABDUL RASHID | 25 | TERENGGANU FC 10. | SAFWAN MAZLAN | 22 | TERENGGANU FC 11. | MUHAMMAD AZAM AZMI MURAD | 23 | TERENGGANU FC 12. | DOMINIC TAN | 27 | SABAH FC 13. | DANIEL SANG TING | 32 | SABAH FC 14. | DARREN LOK | 34 | SABAH FC 15. | STUART JOHN WILKIN | 26 | SABAH FC 16. | NOOA HAMZAH LAINE | 22 | SELANGOR FC 17. | HARITH HAIQAL ADAM AFKAR | 22 | SELANGOR FC 18. | MUHAMMAD AZIM AL AMIN KAMARUDDIN | 23 | SELANGOR FC 19. | MOHAMMAD HAYKAL DANISH MOHD HAIZON | 19 | SELANGOR FC B-23 20. | MUHAMMAD AZRI AB GHANI | 25 | KUALA LUMPUR CITY FC 21. | PAULO JOSUE | 35 | KUALA LUMPUR CITY FC 22. | MUHAMMAD HAQIMI AZIM ROSLI | 21 | KUALA LUMPUR CITY FC 23. | MOHAMED SYAMER KUTTY ABBA | 27 | PENANG FC 24. | MUHAMMAD ADIB ABDUL RA’OP | 25 | PENANG FC 25. | MUHAMMAD SYAFIQ AHMAD | 29 | KEDAH DARUL AMAN FC 26. | DION-JOHAN COOLS | 28 | BURIRAM UNITED 27. | ENDRICK DOS SANTOS | 29 | HO CHI MINH CITY FC
Based on the abovementioned list, Pau Marti has retained a total of 23 from 26 players from the squad that won the 2024 Merdeka Tournament after beating the Philippines 2-1 in the semi-finals on September 4, 2024 and Lebanon 1-0 in the final on September 8, 2024, both at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil.
Sabah FC midfielder, Stuart Wilkin who was not with the team during 2024 Merdeka Tournament has been called up this time, along with three new players, namely Selangor FC goalkeeper, Azim Al Amin Kamaruddin and young players from the national U-19 squad who have just returned from the U20 Asian Cup 2025 Qualifiers in Tajikistan which goalkeeper, Haziq Aiman Mohd Esa (JDT II) and Haykal Danish Mohd Haizon (Selangor FC U-23).
Really hoping for a strong showing and good win tonight. Great to hear the whole squad is available.
Reading AV’s article on stuff he mentions our draws with the DRC, Ireland, Tunisia and USA in the last 18 months. As much as I’d love some wins vs non-Oceania teams, those draws are pretty impressive for the All Whites.
They will be eager to have the chance to express themselves better in friendlier conditions on home soil, with Bazeley planning on making a few changes to his starting XI. A start for Alex Paulsen in goal seems likely, with Storm Roux – in place of Tim Payne at right back – and Michael Boxall – in place of either Tyler Bindon or Nando Pijanker at centre back – two others who are a good chance to come in.
Why are we 40 minutes in and still haven't worked out how to play the game?
The complete lack of positional awareness or anticipation of where the ball might pop up by all our attacking players has been so infuriating to watch. Get Waine off his touch has been as flat as a punctured tyre. Get Wood on to remind these school boys how it's done.
Why are we 40 minutes in and still haven't worked out how to play the game?
The complete lack of positional awareness or anticipation of where the ball might pop up by all our attacking players has been so infuriating to watch. Get Waine off his touch has been as flat as a punctured tyre. Get Wood on to remind these school boys how it's done.
Oof, the team is still struggling to find simple passes. On different pages in critical moments. This kind of this reeks of disorganization specifically from the coach. One thing is executing but looking like everyone at least understands the plan is another.