KEY POINTS:
The Junior All Whites, boasting two professionals, will start favourites to retain their Oceania under-20 soccer title and book their tickets to the Fifa under-20 World Cup in Egypt next year.
Coach Stu Jacobs has named a side full of New Zealand Football Championship-calibre players with Wellington Phoenix strikers Greg Draper and Costa Barbarouses adding extra professionalism up front for the trip to Tahiti from December 13-17.
New Zealand open their tournament against Fiji and then play New Caledonia and hosts Tahiti.
"We spoke about passion as a team during the week, because if there's one thing we lack here in this group, it's that little bit of drive," Jacobs said.
Jacobs is expecting a fiery match against Fiji. New Zealand edged Fiji 3-2 in a heated Oceania qualifying match last year to make the 2007 under-20 World Cup in Canada.
"What you get with Fiji is what you get previously with them, they'll be pretty passionate about the game and (Uruguayan coach) Carlos (Buzzetti) will have them fired up and pretty disorganised.
"That's the way they normally play and they're always hard to play against because of that.
" We just need to be organised and out-passion them really," Jacobs said.
There are injury concerns with Olympians Draper (groin niggle) and skipper Ian Hogg (hamstring).
The tournament will follow a round robin format.
- NZPA
