Squad of 22 players named to play for New Zealand U-23 side against China

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New Zealand’s men’s U-23 squad has been named to play China in curtainraisers to two All Whites fixtures in Auckland and Wellington in late March.

The squad, coached by Wellington Phoenix academy technical director Paul Temple, will play an U-25 China side.

Main photo: Paul Temple … to coach the national U-23 squad for the games against China.Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.

The 22-person New Zealand squad features players aged 22 and under in preparation for the upcoming OFC Olympic qualifying campaign and potential 2024 Olympic Games, which have a U-23 age restriction for most of the squad.

China will select players for this fixture aged 24 and under. This is due to the team using these matches to prepare for the 2022 Asian Games which were delayed a year to September 2023 due to Covid-19 but allowed the same players to take part.

New Zealand squad

Adam Supyk (Eastern Suburbs, New Zealand)
Alex Paulsen (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Ben Old (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Campbell Strong (Seattle University, USA)
Fin Conchie (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Finn Linder (Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada)
Finn Surman (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Isaac Hughes (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Jay Herdman (Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada)
Jesse Randall (Charleston Battery, USA)
Joe Lee (Auckland City FC, New Zealand)
Kees Sims (Ljungskile SK, Sweden)
Lukas Kelly-Heald (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Nathan Lobo (Auckland City FC, New Zealand)
Noah Karunaratne (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Oscar Browne (Western Springs, New Zealand)
Oskar van Hattum (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Riley Bidois (Dandenong City SC, Australia)
Ronan Wynne (Denver University, USA)
Sam Sutton (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Scott Morris (Christchurch United, New Zealand)
Zac Zoricich (Central Coast Mariners, Australia)

Coach Darren Bazeley: ‘We are up for the challenge’

Darren Bazeley, interim All Whites head coach and men’s U-20 head coach, said:

“This is a strong group of players that we’re looking forward to working with for this new cycle.

“I have worked closely with Paul Temple, who will be coaching the team during this window, to assemble a squad that has a great mix of professional and age group international experience.

“While we are now going to be facing an older Chinese side than initially planned, we are up for the challenge knowing the experience will be valuable further down the line for these players.”