New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert has named a 15-man training camp, for his Australasian-based players.
Training squad look to impress
New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert has named a 15-man training camp, for his Australasian-based players.
The camp will take take place from 28th April to 10th May, and will go some way to helping Herbert conclude his final selection.
The squad includes just one uncapped player - Canterbury's Aaron Clapham, a former Under-20 international.
The get-together will also include a New Zealand selection team taking on a New Zealand Football Championship All Stars XI on 9th May.
There are three other players selected for the camp - Newcastle Jets midfielder Jeremy Brockie, Brisbane Roar striker Costa Barbarouses and Team Wellington midfielder Cole Peverley - who were not involved in the All Whites' success against Bahrain or the friendly against Mexico last month.
Brockie is on the comeback trail after suffering a broken leg during the A League season.
"Aaron's a player we've been monitoring and I invited him in for a couple of weeks recently with the Phoenix," said Herbert, who is also the head coach of A-League side Wellington Phoenix.
"In the big games against Auckland and Waitakere this season he's stepped up and performed. Now it's a good chance to bring him in with players like (Tim) Brown and (Leo) Bertos and see what his work is like at that level."
New Zealand's full World Cup squad will assemble in Auckland on 19th May to prepare for a trans-Tasman showdown with Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground three days later.
The All Whites' World Cup preparations continue in Europe where they will play Serbia in Austria on 29th May and Slovenia in Maribor on 4th June before shifting to South Africa, where they have a training match against Chile before their first Group F match against Slovakia in Rustenburg on 15th June.
Squad of Australasian-based players for camp in Auckland: James Bannatyne (Team Wellington), Glen Moss (Melbourne Victory), Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix); Tony Lochhead, Dave Mulligan, Ben Sigmund (all Wellington Phoenix), Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City); Andy Barron, Cole Peverley (both Team Wellington), Leo Bertos, Tim Brown (both Wellington Phoenix), Jeremy Brockie (Newcastle Jets), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United); Costa Barbarouses (Brisbane Roar), Shane Smeltz (Gold Coast).
