The mothballed All Whites will not play their postponed World Cup qualifier against Fiji until November. Coach Ricki Herbert is unfazed his team will play only three times this year - the home and away matches against New Caledonia in September and the November 19 game against Fijiin Apia, Samoa.
"It is not as frustrating as it might seem," Herbert said. "We now know clubs will only release players when they have to in the Fifa windows and our preference is to play the full strength national side when we can."
Wins in two of these three matches will guarantee the All Whites a place at next year's Confederations Cup in South Africa and a playoff with the fifth-placed Asian nation for the last spot at the 2010 World Cup.
* The six candidates on the shortlist for the vacant chief executive role at New Zealand Football were interviewed yesterday.
It is understood there were around 40 applications for the role left vacant when Graham Seatter resigned earlier this year.
* Mt Albert Grammar's 5-4 second round Chatham Cup win over northern region first division side Fencibles United has been confirmed.
The East Auckland club had appealed to NZF contending MAGS captain Jonathan Raj should not have played in Monday's match as he had been sent off in a school game last Saturday.
Legal opinion was sought with the ruling the result stand as teams in school competitions are not NZF affiliates and play under different rules.
MAGS are away to first division Mangere United in next Saturday's third round.
* The New Zealand team will be looking to go one better when they kick off their bid for a spot at Fifa's World Futsal Tournament in Brazil later this year in Suva tomorrow.
Four of the players who lost the 2004 Oceania Futsal final to Australia are in the 12-man team who will play the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tahiti, Tuvalu, New Caledonia and Fiji.
