KEY POINTS:
Annalie Longo's inclusion in the Football Ferns soccer squad for their Australian tour and Olympic women's qualifying match against Papua New Guinea keeps the 16-year-old on track to play all four major Fifa tournaments by the end of the year.
New Zealand coach John Herdman yesterday also recalled Longo's former under-20 teammates Emma Kete, Renee Leota and Kirsty Yallop, with that trio the only members of the 16-strong squad not to have featured at either last year's women's World Cup or end-of-year tour to China.
"Competition for places is high," Herdman said. "And selection decisions are getting harder and harder.
"The performances of the players in China have cemented a core group of players who are now hard to leave out." Kete and Leota both last won caps against Canada last June while Yallop's last international was April's World Cup Qualifier against Papua New Guinea, a game in which she grabbed two of New Zealand's seven goals.
Their inclusion alongside Longo, Merissa Smith, Abby Erceg and US-based players Ria Percival, Ali Riley and Hannah Bromley means that nine of the players named yesterday have graduated from the under-20 World Cup squad in Russia two years ago.
Herdman pointed to Yallop's "real attacking quality" from midfield as a reason for her inclusion.
Eight-cap Longo has an under-20 and senior World Cup already under her belt and - with a New Zealand hosted under-17 World Cup and a second under-20 World Cup in Chile on the horizon - Olympic participation would set her up to complete the unprecedented feat of competing in all four of Fifa's major women's tournaments.
New Zealand face Papua New Guinea on March 8 in a one-off qualifying match at Port Moresby, with the winners earning the right to Oceania's place among 12 teams in Beijing.
FOOTBALL FERNS SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jenny Bindon, Rachel Howard
Defenders: Hannah Bromley, Abby Erceg, Maia Jackman, Ria Percival, Ali Riley
Midfielders: Simone Ferrara, Annalie Longo, Hayley Moorwood (captain), Emily McColl, Kirsty Yallop
Forwards: Wendi Henderson, Emma Kete, Renee Leota, Merissa Smith
- NZPA
