As he continues to build the foundations for the team’s campaign to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Hudson’s squad reflects his desire to assess the country’s up-and-coming talent – some of whom could play a key role as the team move towards Russia.
A total of eight new faces have been named with four of the new players based offshore. Defender Themistoklis Tzimopoulos (29) joins the squad from the Greek Super League club PAS Giannina while midfielder Benjamin van den Broek (27) – playing in Romanian Liga 1 with Universitatea Cluj – is also named.
New Zealand age-group representative goalkeepers Max Crocombe (Oxford United – League 2, UK) and Stefan Marinovic (SpVgg Unterhaching – German Division 3) have also been included.
Crocombe was part of the New Zealand U-20 side at the 2013 World Cup tournament in Turkey – a team which also included Storm Roux, Bill Tuiloma and Tyler Boyd – while Marinovic, along with Marco Rojas, was a member of the 2011 Men’s U-20 side which contested the World Cup tournament in Colombia.
Jake Gleeson, who played in goal on the previous tour to China and Thailand, was unavailable for selection through injury.
Hudson says the inclusion of Tzimopoulos and van den Broek has come directly from the worldwide search for players eligible to play for the New Zealand side.
“We’ve had many names come to us and just a few of those list of names we felt could come in and add quality and depth to squad, and those are two we’ve selected,” Hudson said.
“Themi actually came from someone who reached out to us from down in Wellington. That’s where his family is from. Benjamin was applying for citizenship and Ryan Thomas told us about him and helped him through the process.
“Since those names were given to us, we’ve been following their games, watching previous games and we’ve recently made the decision that now is the time to bring them in.”
Meanwhile, four New Zealand-based players have been included in the side to make their first All Whites trip.
Auckland City FC pair Sam Burfoot (20) and Ryan De Vries (23) will be in line for their first senior international caps while Men’s U-20 and
Wanderers SC squad members Sam Brotherton and Clayton Lewis are also named.
Hudson says the likes of Brotherton (18) and Lewis (18) have earned their chance through performances in squads that form part of New Zealand Football’s aligned pathway to the elite level.
“The ones we’ve selected I’ve been seeing them week in and week out, training in front of us and playing and they deserve the chance in our environment. These players have been identified for certain reasons; not just down to ability and performances but also in terms of strength of character.
“This is now the process of identifying – between now and the end of the Olympic campaign – exactly who the young players are that we want to bring with us and have them with us for our campaign and really invest our time into developing and throwing all our energy into.”
Hudson says after the time spent building the foundation for the future of the All Whites programme, the goals for the March window against the 54th-ranked nation are very clear.
“The objective is that this trip has to be the best so far. We want to see a progression in the style of play. There will be enough players in the starting 11 that will have been with us in the last couple of trips who will help bring that style of play along. The new players coming in we hope to see them understanding it and playing a part in it.
“We want to test ourselves against one of the best teams in Asia with some top quality players. I think it will be an incredible experience, especially for some of the young lads who in two or three years time will be called upon to play in these types of environments and against these types of players.”
For more on New Zealand football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz.

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