All White Marko Stamenic will get the chance soon to join a small but select group of New Zealanders to play in the UEFA Champions League.
Midfielder Stamenic (20) plays for Danish Superliga club FC Copenhagen who have been drawn in Group G of this season’s Champions League along with English champions Manchester City, Sevilla (Spain) and Borussia Dortmund (Germany).
Copenhagen qualified for the group stages by beating Turkish club Trabzonspor 2-1 in their two-legged qualifying round.
Stamenic was an unused substitute in last week’s second leg.
Wellington-born Stamenic joined the club in September 2020 after impressing scouts when playing for New Zealand at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
If he can get on the pitch for Copenhagen in the group games, Stamenic will join the small group of New Zealanders to play in the UEFA Champions League group stages.
These include four New Zealand internationals — Wynton Rufer (with Werder Bremen), national coach Danny Hay (with Leeds United), Chris Killen (with Celtic) and Kim Wright (with Maltese club Floriana).
Stamenic has six full caps for New Zealand.
UEFA Champions League group draw
Group A: Ajax (Netherlands), Liverpool (England), Napoli (Italy), Rangers (Scotland
Group B: Porto (Portugal), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Club Brugge (Belgium)
Group C: Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Inter Milan (Italy), Viktoria Plzeň (Czech Republic)
Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), Tottenham (England), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), Marseille (France)
Group E: AC Milan (Italy), Chelsea (England), Salzburg (Austria), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Group F: Real Madrid (Spain), Leipzig (Germany), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Celtic (Scotland)
Group G: Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark)
Group H: Paris Saint-Germain (France), Juventus (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Maccabi Haifa (Israel)
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