The 16-team Sanix Cup sees the Young All Whites play six games in four days in Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu and is the first leg of an Asian tour that also takes in two games against Qatar’s Aspire Academy in Doha.
Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeast coast of Honshu on Friday, New Zealand Football sought advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and also the tournament organisers before confirming the team’s participation.
“What’s going on elsewhere in Japan is beyond belief really,” New Zealand coach Steve Cain says.
“It’s the kind of situation you wouldn’t wish on anybody. All we can do is contribute in any way we can and that’s maybe to help some people restore or continue some kind of normality.
“We are about 1500 kilometres away from where the troubles are. There are no safety concerns for us – if there were the tour wouldn’t be going ahead.
“It’s a pretty important part of our build-up and we are looking forward to playing but we will do whatever we can while we are over there to empathise with the Japanese people. Both countries have suffered recently and hopefully we can show some sort of solidarity with them.”
The Japanese Football Association (JFA) suspended the weekend’s J-League fixtures and withdrew their U-17 team from the Sanix Cup, something that Cain described as disappointing but completely understandable.
Meanwhile New Zealand Football is continuing preparations for the All Whites match against Japan in Tokyo but is monitoring the situation and is in dialogue with the JFA and MFAT.
Following the Sanix Cup, the New Zealand U-17s travel to Qatar for two friendlies against the Aspire Academy.
“We received an invitation from Aspire which is a state of the art facility and produces exceptional teams with players from all over Africa and Asia who go on to get professional contracts in clubs all over the world. They will be very high calibre opposition for us,” Cain says.
New Zealand U-17 Schedule
Sanix Cup
Fukuoka, Japan
March 18
New Zealand U-17 v TBC
New Zealand U-17 v Truro College (ENG)
March 19
New Zealand v Kashiwa Reysol Youth (JAP)
March 20
Playoffs – Two matches
March 21
Playoffs – One match
Qatar
Aspire Academy, Doha
March 27
New Zealand U-17 v Aspire Academy (QAT)
March 30
New Zealand U-17 v Aspire Academy (QAT)
New Zealand U-17 squad to Japan and Qatar
Goalkeepers
1–Scott BASALAJ (Team Wellington)
20–Mathew GOULD (Hawkes Bay United)
21–Liam ANDERSON (Forrest Hill Milford)
Defenders
2–Harshae RANIGA (Central United)
3–Shawn O’BRIEN (Canterbury United
4–Reece LAMBERT (Central United)
5–Luke ADAMS (Captain / Waitakere United)
16–Bill TUILOMA (Asia Pacific Football Academy)
14–Oliver WRIGHT (Hamilton Boys High School)
Midfielders
8–Rhys JORDAN (Forrest Hill United)
10–Cameron HOWIESON (Asia Pacific Football Academy)
12–Jordan VALE (Waitakere United)
13–Cameron MARTIN (Auckland City)
18–Calvin OPPERMAN (Asia Pacific Football Academy)
Forwards
6–Alex RIDSDALE (Canterbury United)
7–Dylan STANSFIELD (Forest Hill Milford)
9–Tim PAYNE (Waitakere United)
11–James DEBENHAM (Forrest Hill Milford)
15–Nathan BUSWELL (East Coast Bays)
17–James WYPYCH (Team Wellington)
19–Ken YAMAMOTO (Canterbury United)
Management Team
Coach: Stephen CAIN
Assistant coach (Doha leg): Darren BAZELEY
GK Coach (Doha): George SMITH
GK Coach (Japan): Jonathan GOULD
Team Manager (Doha): Dale WEBSTER
Physiotherapist: Adam CRUMP
Sports Scientist (Doha): Andrew FOSKETT
Kit Manager (Japan): Chris WARDLE
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz