Wellington, Feb 9 (DPA) New Zealand chief football coach Ricki Herbert said Tuesday that he expects to play World Cup qualifying hero Rory Fallon in next month’s friendly against Mexico.
Fallon has said he does not care for friendlies and would prefer to help his club Plymouth Argyle which is fighting relegation in the English championship.
Herbert included Fallon, who scored the goal against Bahrain in Wellington in November to get the All Whites through the selection phase, when naming his strongest possible side for warm-up game against Mexico in Los Angeles, scheduled for March 3.
He said later that Argyle boss Paul Mariner had not come back to him after an initial conversation on the issue.
“I’m just assuming that they’ve understood and respected the decision – as we understand and respect their position too. But it’s only one FIFA window and the enormity of the World Cup. It doesn’t come around every year – we think it’s in the best interests to have the best players.
“We haven’t played for nearly four months now and we could be a little rusty,” Herbert said. “It’s incredibly important that we get the players in now and set the tone for the future, and hence the reason why we’ve picked a very tough team to play against.
“Mexico won’t do us any favours, but that gets us back to the reality of what we’re going to face in South Africa in June.”
Two members of the 17-man squad that beat Bahrain have been replaced. Mark Paston, who saved a penalty that would have given Bahrain the away goal ticket to South Africa, is recovering from a fractured tibia, while Ivan Vicelich was suspended for one friendly after picking up a red card against Jordan in September.
The squad includes goalie Glen Moss, returning from suspension and newcomers Tommy Smith, 19, and Craig Henderson, 22.
Smith has just declared his allegiance to New Zealand after playing youth internationals for England. Henderson, an attacking midfielder who has signed a contract with Mjallby in the Swedish premier league after playing in the United States, starred in New Zealand’s Olympic team at Beijing.
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