Opposition Focus: New Zealand U-17

Words: ACFC Media

Tuesday 19 September 2017

AUCKLAND CITY FC take on New Zealand U-17 today in a friendly match at QBE Stadium and we’ve pulled together everything about the fixture in one handy place.

OPPOSITION INFO:
FIRST MATCH: 3 December 1983
NICKNAME: Junior All Whites
COACH: Danny Hay

MATCH INFO:
DATE: Tuesday 19 September 2017
KICK OFF: 7:00
VENUE: QBE Stadium, Albany
COMPETITION: Pre-season friendly

MATCH STATS:
OFC U-17 CHAMPIONSHIP 2017
PLAYED: 5
WON: 5
DRAWN: 0
LOST: 0
FOR: 27
AGAINST: 2

FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP MATCHES:
6 October 2017 v Turkey (Mumbai)
9 October 2017 v Paraguay (Mumbai)
12 October 2017 v Mali (New Delhi)

NEW ZEALAND U-17 COACH DANNY HAY:
Danny Hay (The Indian Express): “We know that we are coming here and probably seen as the underdogs and may not have the pedigree of other nations but we have got a team with reasonable amount of talent in a tough group."

“Mali are the losing finalists of the previous edition, we have played Paraguay in the previous World Cup in Chile, so we know that they come well prepared into the tournament and their teams always possess a great amount of talent, like any other South American team they are going to be very tough to beat. Turkey having qualified from Europe is a big statement in itself.”

RESULTS UNDER DANNY HAY
27 May 2015 Croatia 4-1 New Zealand
28 May 2015 New Zealand 0-1 Qatar
10 October 2015 New Zealand 1-5 Mexico
12 October 2015 South Africa 1-0 New Zealand
19 October 2015 New Zealand 1-6 France
22 October 2015 Syria 0-0 New Zealand
25 October 2015 New Zealand 2-1 Paraguay
28 October 2015 Brazil 1-0 New Zealand
12 February 2017 New Zealand 11-0 Samoa
15 February 2017 Solomon Islands 1-2 New Zealand
18 February 2017 New Zealand 5-0 Fiji
21 February 2017 New Zealand 2-1 Papua New Guinea
24 February 2017 New Zealand 7-0 New Caledonia

NAVY BLUES TEAM NEWS

Expect every member of coach Ramon Tribulietx's squad to receive game time in the first bounce match of the pre-season. The squad began training on September 8 and continue their preparation when they travel to Waiheke Island on Friday afternoon for Saturday's Fuller's Festival of Football friendly game at Onetangi Domain.

FAST FACTS
Auckland City FC have played international teams and composite sides in friendly matches before with clashes against Kuwait, Japan, Uzbekistan, the Oceania All Stars and various age group teams.

Auckland City FC lost 0-2 to Kuwait in 2009 and Japan in 2015 but drew 0-0 with Uzbekistan in a friendly in Dubai in 2014 en route to their sensational third place finish at the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco.

New Zealand U-17's adventure in India will be the eighth time the team has qualified for a world finals in this age group bracket.

New Zealand U-17 has reached the knock-out stages of a FIFA U-17 World Cup on three occasions in 2009, 2011 and 2015.

Several wins have been notched by New Zealand U-17 at the finals with victories over Poland (2-1) in 1999, Uzbekistan (4-1) in 2011 and Paraguay (2-1) in 2015.

Ends