A year after the Nations Cup disaster, the All Whites are set to return to the playing field.
Outgoing New Zealand Soccer chief executive Bill MacGowan yesterday confirmed negotiations for the All Whites to play the Socceroos in London are in advanced stages.
The date or ground have not been
confirmed but Australia have in the past played similar fixtures at grounds such as Fulham's Craven Cottage where they drew 2-2 with Norway in November.
The match will be played in one of the official Fifa windows for internationals with early June the most likely as Australia could use the match as a warm-up for their Confederations Cup campaign in Germany later that month.
Sky Television yesterday confirmed their intention to show the match here live.
MacGowan said he hoped it would be played midweek and aimed at a breakfast audience in New Zealand.
"The priority is getting the All Whites back on the park," said MacGowan, who is attempting to find a second game against a European side.
"Our preference is to play in early June. If that is not possible there is a second opportunity in September.
"We have to have the All Whites playing. Our ranking has dropped to 96, we don't want to fall outside the top 100."
In an ideal world, the national side, who have not played at home since the 2002 Oceania Nations Cup in Auckland, would return to action here. Reality suggests something different.
"I have been popped for the lack of international football here," MacGowan said. "But the numbers simply don't add up.
"In recent weeks we have had offers to play two international sides - both ranked higher than us but not what you could call super sides - in New Zealand.
"But, when we added up the US$100,000 ($142,000) plus match fee, the 30 business class seats to get them here and five days in a five-star hotel along with the assembly costs for the All Whites we were looking at between $750,000 and $800,000.
"With little chance of selling sponsorship - all shirts for internationals have to be clean - and with no television fees we would need a crowd of 30,000 plus to make it viable," MacGowan said. "Against that, it will cost less than $100,000 to assemble the team in Britain.
"People can throw rocks if they want but these are the facts."
MacGowan said he and his staff were always on the lookout for games but refuse to enter any negotiations which could prove financially embarrassing.
"It is a big business now. A much different animal than the days when you could virtually pick up the phone and arrange games. In the past there were no match fees, we had all our players based here and New Zealand was seen as a convenient stop off point for teams on a Pacific tour."
If 18 players are named for these matches in Europe, at least 12 will be based offshore.
Another positive which could come from these games could be the appointment of a New Zealand-born coach for the first time.
With Mick Waitt now, it seems, out of the All Whites loop, New Zealand Soccer's director of technical development Ricki Herbert would be the logical choice.
Herbert, in the Solomon Islands to watch the New Zealand under-20 team at the Oceania qualifying tournament, is best-equipped to step in and hopefully go on to a long-term involvement with the national side.
MacGowan said plans for the national women's squad would be announced within the next couple of weeks, with the team likely to play in South America later this year.
Possible NZ XI
Mark Paston (Walsall)
David Mulligan (Doncaster)
Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn, capt)
Danny Hay (NZ Knights)
Tony Lochhead (New England)
Leo Bertos (Rochdale)
Ivan Vicelich (Roda JC)
Noah Hickey (NZ Knights)
Vaughan Coveny (Essendon)
Shane Smeltz (Mansfield)
Chris Killen (Oldham)
A year after the Nations Cup disaster, the All Whites are set to return to the playing field.
Outgoing New Zealand Soccer chief executive Bill MacGowan yesterday confirmed negotiations for the All Whites to play the Socceroos in London are in advanced stages.
The date or ground have not been
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