By TERRY MADDAFORD
There will be some hasty "how dos" when the New Zealand under-20 soccer team assemble in Noumea on Sunday.
As well as meeting the six English and American-based players who will fly into Sydney and on to Noumea, the players will encounter new boy Shane Smeltz for the first time.
Australian-born of Kiwi parents, Smeltz, who has yet to kick a football in New Zealand, has been a late call-up to the national side for the Oceania youth tournament, which will be played in the New Caledonian capital from next Thursday.
"We had to find a replacement for Jeremy Field, who broke his toe a few weeks ago," said national coach Ken Dugdale. He and national youth coach Ken Cresswell will be in charge of the biannual tournament.
The group winner will play the top team from the other group competition being held in in the Cook Islands.
"We were aware of Smeltz, and I got in touch with John Kosmina, who has him in his Brisbane Strikers side," Dugdale said.
"He has been impressed with him, and Smeltz will come into the tournament with about a dozen NSL games behind him. He plays either as a striker or wide in midfield.
"It makes a change to have a player who wants to play for New Zealand," Dugdale said, referring to Archie Thompson when he opted to try to win a place in the Socceroos.
"We also missed out on Leo Bertos. He could go to play for Greece, but first wants to secure a contract with Barnsley."
Dugdale is confident that the team, to be managed by former All Whites coach Ian Marshall, is the best to represent New Zealand at this level. It will have to be.
New Zealand face a hectic schedule with matches every second day against Tahiti, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Fiji, with only the winner to progress to the home and away playoffs.
If it is a transtasman clash, they will start in Auckland - at Ericsson Stadium - on February 28.
While there are benefits to home and away, Dugdale would prefer a one-off, winner-take-all decider.
"The Aussies have always been frightened of us in a one-off match," he said. "But it's not to be, so we just have to get on with it."
Australia play in the same group as the Cook Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu and Tonga - on paper, at least, a much easier task.
Soccer: Aussie-Kiwi completes squad
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