Olympics: Broken bone dashes Highfield's hopes

By TERRY MADDAFORD

New Zealand under-23 goalkeeper Adam Highfield is out of the Olympic qualifying series which kicks off tomorrow at North Harbour Stadium.

Highfield broke a bone in his hand training on Saturday. He has been replaced in the 20-strong squad by Football Kingz back-up goalkeeper Tamati Williams.

"It is a blow for Adam," New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert said yesterday. "He would have been vying with Glen Moss for a place in the starting XI. Tamati Williams is a good replacement. He was part of the initial 30-man squad we named."

The goalkeepers are working out under new national goalkeeping coach Mick Leonard, who worked with Moss when he was in Iran with the All Whites as understudy to Mark Paston.

The New Zealand team will be under the Olympic spotlight this week.

With a place at the Athens Olympic Games guaranteed, the pressure is on for the 10 Oceania nations who will play four round-robin matches in two groups - at North Harbour Stadium and Sydney's Marconi Stadium.

The group winners will then meet home and away at the end of the month to find the Oceania Football Confederation representative which will claim the direct entry spot.

The New Zealand team, coached by 1982 World Cup All Whites Herbert and Brian Turner, have been together since Saturday preparing for their tournament opener against the Cook Islands tomorrow night.

"It will be something of a journey into the unknown," Herbert said. "While I have seen some videos of past Cook Islands teams, I have not seen this team play. Really, I know nothing about them. But to be fair, we are more concerned with what we are doing than worrying too much about the opposition."

Like most, Herbert sees Vanuatu as the team most likely to test New Zealand in group B.

"They have been together for a long time. They play as a team in their domestic competition and beat the Football Kingz development side on Sunday."

New Zealand play Vanuatu in the last of their round-robin matches on January 22.

The winner of group A will host the first of the home and away matches on January 26.

If Australia win that group, the first leg will be played at Parramatta Stadium. If New Zealand win group B, the return leg will be at North Harbour Stadium on January 30.

New Zealand have a number of overseas-based players in their squad, including Moss, Tony Lochhead, Tim Brown, Leo Bertos, Brent Fisher, Shane Smeltz, Jarrod Smith and Allan Pearce.

Smeltz, Fisher, Bertos, David Mulligan, Lochhead and Rupesh Puna have played for the All Whites. Pearce and Moss were squad members, without playing, in Iran.

Locally-based players Andrew Boyens (Dunedin Technical) and team captain Steven Old (Manawatu) were the national league player of the year and the international young player of the year respectively last year.

NEW ZEALAND SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Glen Moss (Sydney Olympic), Tamati Williams (Football Kingz).

Defenders: Rupesh Puna (Caversham), Steven Old (Manawatu, capt), Andrew Boyens (Dunedin Technical), Matthew Adams (Lower Hutt City), Tony Lochhead (Santa Barbara University).

Midfield: Matthew Wilson (Western Suburbs), Steven Turner (unattached), Tim Brown (Cincinnati University), David Mulligan (unattached), James Pritchett (unattached), Leo Bertos (Rochdale AFC), Tariq Imam (Miramar Rangers).

Forwards: Allan Pearce (Lincoln City), Brent Fisher (Northern Spirit), Neil Jones (Santa Barbara University), Jarrod Smith (West Virginia University), Shane Smeltz (Adelaide United), Jason Hayne (Manawatu),

The fixtures Group B draw (all matches North Harbour Stadium). -

Tomorrow: American Samoa v Tonga, 5pm; New Zealand v Cook Islands, 7.30pm.

Friday: New Zealand v American Samoa, 5pm; Tonga v Vanuatu, 7.30pm.

Sunday: Cook Islands v Vanuatu, 5pm; New Zealand v Tonga, 7.30pm.

January 20: Tonga v Cook Islands, 5pm; American Samoa v Vanuatu, 7.30pm.

January 22: American Samoa v Cook Islands, 5pm; New Zealand v Vanuatu, 7.30pm.

Group A (Marconi Stadium): Australia, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji.