Players in both teams will be casting their minds a few weeks ahead when the Wellington Phoenix and the national under-20s men's soccer side do battle at the Pugh Sportsbowl in Masterton on Sunday.
For the Phoenix it is their first real opportunity to build combinations under match conditions leading into
their opening Hyundai A-league Pre-Season Cup game against the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford on Sunday, July 14.
And for the national under-20s it will be a vital part of their build-up for their World Cup in Canada which gets underway at the end of this month. There they are drawn in the same pool as Portugal, Gambia and current world under-17 champions Mexico.
Also two of the three under-20 spots in the Phoenix are still to be filled and with Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert saying they will almost certainly come from within the national side that too adds an extra flavour to Sunday's match.
Herbert says the Phoenix will be holding nothing back against their youthful opponents.
"It'll be a proper 90-minute match.It will be the first game in some time for several players but we've been training hard and they will be keen to get out and play hard," he said.
No players in the Phoenix squad will attract more attention from what should be a big crowd of interested spectators than their "imports", Brazilians Daniel Lins Cortes and Felipe de Souza and Australians Royce Brownlie and Karl Dodd. Their cv's make impressive reading but actions always speak louder than words, don't they?
Adding to the excitement of Sunday's game is that no fewer than six All Whites are likely to be part of the Phoenix line-up too ... Vaughn Coveny, Jeremy Christie, Tony Lochhead, Steve Olds, Glen Moss and Shane Smeltz. The latter is the latest addition to the Phoenix after scoring both goals in the All Whites headline-grabbing 2-2 draw with Wales. The national under-20s don't have the "name" players to compare with those in the Phoenix but as befits their description they contain some of the country's best young talent. They have been together for sometime now so will have the edge on Phoenix in terms of combinations and fitness and that should be enough to ensure they make a close game of it.
Kickoff at the Pugh Sportsbowl is 11am and entry is free.