Football
Wairarapa United speedster Dale Higham wasn't taking his selection in the Junior All Whites football team to contest the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Turkey next month for granted.
Higham always looked a strong possibility to make the 21-strong squad after a series of strong performances for the winning Junior All Whites combination at the Oceania under-20 championships in Fiji in March, but he admits to breathing a sigh of relief after his place in the side was confirmed late last week.
"I was pretty happy with the way things went in Fiji, but there's always the thought in the back in the mind that you might miss out ... nothing is ever guaranteed," he told the Times-Age yesterday.
Higham's next goal is to perform well enough in the lead-up games against Australia in Wollongong on June 10, Iraq in Turkey on June 13 and Egypt, also in Turkey on June 17, to force his way into the starting XI for the World Cup group games. There the Junior All Whites will play Uzbekistan on June 23, Uruguay on June 26 and Croatia on June 29, all of them in Bursa, Turkey.