Soccer: All Whites to play Scotland in cup warm-up match

By TERRY MADDAFORD

The All Whites will play Scotland for the first time since the 1982 World Cup as part of their build-up to next year's Confederations Cup.

Soccer New Zealand chief executive Bill MacGowan yesterday confirmed the May 27 international as the first of three European games in the build-up to the cup.

The clash with Scotland, ranked 58 on Fifa's latest list compared with New Zealand's 49, is likely to be played at Hibernian's Easter Rd ground.

The second match is likely to be against Norway on May 31 in Oslo. Norway are ranked 26th.

The third warm-up game - again a full international - will not be confirmed until after the Confederations Cup draw is made in Paris on February 12.

Depending on which group they are drawn in, New Zealand have been offered matches against the United States and France.

If the All Whites are drawn in the same group as those two finalists, it is likely they will instead play Croatia, in Croatia, between June 7 and 10.

The Confederations Cup starts in France on June 18.

"The response from European countries has been very positive," MacGowan said. "No one has told us to go away. In fact, we have had requests from other teams wanting games.

"It is vital we continue to play internationally. Getting results against teams ranked as high as the United States (10), France (2) or Croatia (32) would really help our rating."

The All Whites will assemble in England on May 23 and use The Springs - a health farm-type facility near Birmingham - as their base.

Their first international of the year will be against Iran in the Asia/Oceania Challenge match at North Harbour Stadium on March 28. The return in Tehran will be played in April.