Football: All Whites underdone ahead of Socceroos clash

Captain Winston Reid was one of the All Whites' few early arrivals. Photo / photosport.nz

The All Whites will have to overcome significant logistical hurdles ahead of their long-awaited clash with the Socceroos on Thursday night in Brisbane.

The full squad will only have one training session together, which will be a light jog through on Wednesday afternoon, as they assemble from across the globe.

Even then, there are exceptions.

Scottish-based striker Alex Greive won't be able to take part in any field sessions, as he isn't scheduled to arrive in Australia until late on Wednesday night, due to travel schedules and his commitments with St Mirren.

Senior defender Bill Tuiloma will be another latecomer, due to land in Brisbane on Wednesday, after a game for Portland Timbers in Columbus, Ohio on Monday.

The All Whites will have a skeleton crew of around 10 players for their first practice session on Monday afternoon.

Tuesday's session in Brisbane will be the closest to a proper workout, with perhaps 15 in attendance, before the remainder clock in for Wednesday.

It's far from an ideal situation, but is the reality of compressed Fifa windows.

It's been exacerbated this time with the long trip to the southern hemisphere, along with the reduced flights available compared to pre-Covid times.

The list of departure cities could fill a globe, as the overseas-based players arrive from Copenhagen, Osaka, Milan, Birmingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Diego, Detroit, Columbus and Durban, with most flying in the economy cabin.

"By the time the entire squad gets together, we are going to have 24 hours together in Brisbane before we play," All Whites coach Danny Hay told the Herald. "That's the nature of time zones around the world and us being able to get them together. But there is no point having a moan about it.

"It's our reality. We deal with it. With the culture we have created inside the group, we can connect very quickly and the players are very excited to be in this part of the world, playing against the old foe."

Captain Winston Reid and fellow defender Nando Pijnaker were two of the earliest arrivals, along with Dane Ingham.

The five-strong Wellington Phoenix contingent (Oli Sail, Alex Paulsen, Tim Payne, Ben Old and Ben Waine) will make the hop across the Tasman on Monday morning together with Auckland City midfielder Cameron Howieson.

Newcastle United striker Chris Wood is set to arrive on Monday night, along with Torino midfielder Matt Garbett, with Empoli fullback Liberato Cacace also touching down in Australia on Monday.

Marko Stamenic, who made his first start for FC Copenhagen in the Champions League this week, and Brondby midfielder Joe Bell are among those scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.

To mitigate for the lack of preparation time, Hay and his staff have sent videos to the entire squad over the past week, detailing the tactical plans for the Socceroos fixture, both in and out of possession.

The coaching staff will also lean heavily on the work done in Marbella and Doha earlier this year, which the majority of the squad was involved in, across the extended build-up for the intercontinental playoff with Costa Rica in June.