The All Whites might be without a key player in their World Cup qualifier. Photo / Photosport
The All Whites might be without a key player in their World Cup qualifier. Photo / Photosport
The All Whites could be without one of their key players for their World Cup qualifying decider against Costa Rica. In his latest Road to Doha column, Michael Burgess brings you all the latest from the All Whites camp.
Sarpreet Singh is racing the clock to be fit for theJune showdown with Costa Rica – and the signs are not promising. The 23-year-old German-based midfielder has been managing a groin injury for several months and missed the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament last month.
"He is still struggling with that injury," All Whites coach Danny Hay told the Herald.
Hay said that Singh wouldn't feature again for Jahn Regensburg in the Bundesliga 2 this season and is expected to travel back to New Zealand "within the next week or two".
"He is going to work really closely with our medical team on a daily basis, to give him the best chance possible," said Hay.
"He is still feeling real pain and they haven't been able to get to the bottom of the cause.
Hopefully our medical team can and we can get him to a point where he can contribute to the level where we know he can, though we won't be able to take him if he is only 70 or 80 per cent fit."
The absence of Singh would be a considerable blow. New Zealand has built good depth in midfield but Singh's creative ability and vision offers a point of difference that would be vital against a strong defensive unit like Costa Rica.
The management of Singh's injury at his club has been hard to understand, with the Kiwi taking the field twice in the last month, despite the ongoing complaint, which appears to have aggravated the injury. He had 25 minutes off the bench on March 20, before lasting 61 minutes against Hannover on April 4.
Privately, NZF are said to be extremely disappointed.
Peru fans to take over Barcelona?
The All Whites could face a huge Peruvian crowd in their international match against the Andean team in Barcelona in June. While there is likely to be a smattering of Kiwis expatriates, the Espanyol stadium could be a sea of red and white.
Peruvians are fanatical supporters of their national team and are expected to converge from across Europe – and maybe further - for the game. There is also a large expatriate Peruvian community in Spain of more than 100,000, only exceeded by Colombia and Venezuela among South American nations.
It will be a unique experience for the All Whites, who haven't played in front of a large crowd since the game against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin in November 2019.
Clayton Lewis on the mend?
There are positive signs for All Whites midfielder Clayton Lewis, after his awful ankle injury suffered last month.
He is out of his moon boot and is expected to start light running next week. The 25-year-old is slightly ahead of schedule in his recovery and could yet make a return for his club this season, depending on their progress.
Hay ponders extended squad
Hay is considering using a squad of up to 26 players when the All Whites assemble in Spain next month. While Hay will only be able to name 23 for the Costa Rica clash, he may opt to have extra players (to provide competition and cover) during the build-up.
Stat of the week
As you would expect, success has been scarce for the All Whites against teams from the powerful South American confederation. Across 17 attempts, New Zealand has never managed to defeat a team from the continent.
There have been four draws, against Uruguay (2-2, 1995), Chile (0-0, 1998), Paraguay (0-0, 2010) and the World Cup qualifying encounter versus Peru in Wellington in 2017 (0-0).
From the history files
New Zealand's first attempt to qualify for a Fifa men's World Cup came in 1969. The All Whites were drawn with North Korea and Israel in an Asia/Oceania group, though the communist state were eliminated for refusing to play Israel.
Bizarrely, both matches were staged in Tel Aviv – due to cost considerations – and the All Whites lost 4-0 and 2-0 in front of massive partisan crowds. Israel qualified for the tournament in Brazil, beating Australia 2-1 on aggregate in a home and away series.
