The All Whites could be playing in front of a home crowd as early as October as New Zealand Football (NZF) begins the process of luring international opposition down under within FIFA windows.
New Zealand was the surprise package in the early stages of the FIFA World Cup, ending pool play unbeaten and finishing above world champions Italy.
NZF chief executive Michael Glading says bringing a top international team to the country is the ideal way to give football fans another fix.
“The team did themselves and the country proud on the biggest stage and we think the time is right to host a match against high-calibre opposition," he says.
“The support from the public has been overwhelming but they are saying they now want to see these guys play at home more often, and the players want the chance to say thank you to the fans.
“There are still plenty of hoops to jump through - getting top quality sides to visit this part of the world has never been easy, or cheap for that matter. But the All Whites’ stock has risen dramatically and we will continue to engage clubs to make sure our players are released.”
There are four international match windows – periods when clubs are obligated to release players for international duty – remaining in 2010 but the first of those, on August 11, is a one-day friendly window with a 48-hour release period either side of the match date.
That would rule out the prospect of the All Whites’ overseas-based stars traveling to and from New Zealand in time, and, because the next four-day official match window in September clashes with Wellington Phoenix fixtures in the A-League, NZF have targeted the October 9 to 13 window.
“We want to do it right, and the mid-October window is the chance to do that," Glading says.
“Everybody wants the strongest line-up possible and we don’t want to take players away from the Phoenix given their importance on the New Zealand scene. So October is when we are working towards.”
Glading wouldn’t be drawn on which teams NZF has begun negotiations with, saying the discussions were still commercially sensitive, but did indicate that the venue for the match would be decided after a bidding process, just as for the home leg of last year’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against Bahrain.
Upcoming international windows:
2010 August 11 – Friendly window September 3-7 – Official match window October 8-12 – Official match window November 17 – Friendly window
2011 March 25-29 – Official match window June 1 – Friendly window June 3-7 – Official match window August 10 – Friendly window September 2-6– Official match window October 7-11 – Official match window November 11-15 – Official match window (OFC play-off for FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013)
News on
RSS 
