Soccer: Young blood offers hope for Brazil berth

Italy might be an ageing side but so are New Zealand. Among the team likely to start against the Azzurri on Monday morning (NZT) are Ryan Nelsen (32), Mark Paston and Ivan Vicelich (both 33) and the venerable Simon Elliott, who has just turned 36.

The average age of the first XI of 28.6 makes them one of the oldest teams at the tournament.

But All Whites fans can be optimistic because qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is not unrealistic.

Assuming the World Cup pathway stays the same, the All Whites will need only to beat the fifth-best Asian side on a home-and-away basis as they did against Bahrain.

There's still a long way to go before that pathway is confirmed. Fifa is an extremely political beast that sees countries make promises and deals to suit their own needs and New Zealand is insignificant in the scheme of things.

Regardless, the future looks bright. Elliott, Nelsen and Vicelich might not be around in four years, but Leo Bertos, Shane Smeltz, Chris Killen, Rory Fallon and Tony Lochhead are all 28 and can be expected to be on the scene when qualifying starts for the 2014 World Cup in 2012.

Jeremy Christie and Glen Moss are 27 and Ben Sigmund and Tim Brown 29. That is the nucleus of a decent team.

More encouraging is the emergence of Winston Reid (21), Tommy Smith (20) and Chris Wood (18), along with Jeremy Brockie (22), Michael McGlinchey and Aaron Clapham (both 23).

Others who could feature next time are Costa Barbarouses, Kris Bright, Marco Rojas, Cameron Lindsay and Jacob Spoonley.

"It's great for the future," Smeltz said. "There are a number of teams in this World Cup that are maybe slightly ageing. They've been great in the past and done well for their countries.

"In our team we've got a lot of youth, a lot of players coming through in a lot of different positions, which is good. We've got a healthy squad here now and pretty much the majority of it will be around for a few years to come."

It was one of the reasons coach Ricki Herbert brought a handful of young players at the expense of older alternatives.

The most exciting prospects are Reid, Smith and Wood.

The availability of Reid and Smith has ensured the All Whites have a talented backline.

"It's great to have young guys who have big futures ahead of them being part of this team," Elliott says. "Maybe this is where it all starts for them."