KEY POINTS:
Ricki Herbert will gamble on South American flair as his trump card in assembling the Wellington Phoenix team he will put out for the third A-League season.
He watched five tapes of Brazilian players yesterday as his hunt for the four non-visa players he is allowed in his
23-man squad gains momentum.
"We will definitely have the four non-New Zealand or Australian players we are allowed," said Herbert as he prepares to move south on Monday. "At this stage they will almost certainly be South Americans."
But they will not be among the first batch of about 10 players he will reveal in the next week to 10 days.
At least half of that first release will be current All Whites.
Herbert is behind the eight-ball in not having any names on paper but is not pushing the panic button.
Unlike his seven Australian rival clubs who have their playing rosters filling up and, in some cases already playing warm-up games, the Phoenix are some way away from either.
"The squad will be in place and in Wellington by no later than June 1," said Herbert. "We may not go to our allowable maximum of 23 but whoever we have contracted will be there by then unless one or two of the overseas players have other commitments.
"That will give us six weeks to prepare for the pre-season cup which starts on July 13. That is enough time. One of the benefits of that tournament is in being allowed to trial players not registered with the club in the first two weeks of it."
Herbert must include three under-20 players. He says they will come from the national under-20 squad and will be selected after consultation with coach Stu Jacobs.
Those selections might not be made until after the Fifa under-20 World Cup in Canada from June 30-July 22. The A-League kicks off late August.
Herbert was understandably coy when asked of the prospects of All Whites Ivan Vicelich, Tim Brown and Leo Bertos joining him in Wellington.
Herbert said he would be surprised if current All Whites goalkeepers Mark Paston and Glen Moss did not continue their rivalry at the new club.
He also accepted that some players might rule themselves out by not wanting to relocate to Wellington, thus hinting that all players must live there.