Despite missing half the northern premier league season, Central United defender Joel Mathews did enough to impress selectors of the league's all stars soccer side. For the first half of the season, Mathews was training with the national under-23 side preparing for the Beijing Olympics. "I didn't make the final squad, butI came back to Central for the second half of the season," Mathews says. "After training full-time for a couple of months I was pretty fit and so had a good second half of the season.' He joins three Central United teammates (Salesh Kumar, Luiz Del Monte and league second-top goal scorer Milos Nikolic) in the all star side which will play a series of matches against national league franchises and a representative team from Brisbane. Twenty four players have been picked from 13 clubs in the two northern divisions. Central United and Lynn-Avon United produced the most players selected in the squad, with four each. Lynn-Avon midfielders Chad Coombes and Jono Key, who is also premier league player of the year, are included with defender Nathan Strom and striker Yoji Tanabe. Mathews, who was not expecting the selection, says it's a great opportunity to play alongside other quality players. "I got an email naming who else had made the team. It looks like a good team on paper," Mathews says. "It should be fun. We get to play with guys from other teams that you've seen around and played against but have never had on the same team before." The all stars will line up against a representative side from Brisbane on Saturday. The side gathered for its first training session last Wednesday before taking on Waitakere United on Saturday. Squad coach Mark Armstrong says he's excited to be leading such a talented group of footballers. "Looking at the squad, it highlights the strength in depth of the football talent in our region," he says. "I hope the public get out to see us in action over the coming weeks because I think we'll put on a great show." Che Bunce (Melville Utd), Matt Friel (Melville Utd), Richard Gillespie (Central Utd FC), Michael Judd (Onehunga Mangere Utd AFC) and Grant Young (Central United FC) were selected for the squad but were unavailable.
