It hasn’t always been for lack of trying but All Whites games have been desperately rare for a long time. Liberato Cacace made his senior international debut in June 2018 and still only has three caps. Compare that to Winston Reid’s buddy at West Ham, Declan Rice, who made his debut for England in March 2019 and already has 26 caps with a couple goals to his name. In an alternate reality those two might have even played each other at international level but nope that’s not how it’s been.

Danny Hay took over as head coach of the national men’s team in August 2019 following some weird times for the national body and immediately signalled a new era in All Whites footy. His first couple games in charge weren’t flash in terms of results (a 3-1 loss to Ireland and a 1-0 loss to Lithuania) but with a young squad leaning into probably the most exciting period of emerging footballers that Aotearoa has ever known it was a statement of intent. The future was now (then). Those games ended a 526 day streak between fixtures. They featured seven debutants (including Joe Bell, Eli Just & Callum McCowatt). But the new era turned out to be a false start. One long streak of gamelessness was followed by an even longer streak. The All Whites have become a hypothetical idea of a team. They’ve been banished to the lost realms. They’re basically just a myth that old folks speak about in hushed tones but nobody really believes in them.

After the November 2019 games, NZF was able to organise dates away against Oman and Bahrain in March 2020... only for the pesky pandemic to come along and force those ones to be cancelled. It was already hard enough booking friendly games because of the cost for a cash-strapped wee nation such as New Zealand so chuck in pandemic logistics, for a player base spread out in nations all over the world, and it was damn near impossible. Still, the plan was to return later in the year. Blockbuster games against Belgium and England (at Wembley, no less) were booked for November 2020. Then those fixtures were cancelled too with the logistics still as murky as ever.

But weep no more, friend, because the wait is almost over. Games are now locked in against Curaçao and Bahrain, both of which will take place in Bahrain during the October international window. Two solid oppositions, winnable but competitive games, as well as an opportunity to get the squad together for a few days of invaluable training. Exactly what the doctor ordered... and what’s more is that there’s hope for further games in November as well as the Oceania WCQ tournament which in now expected to take place in Qatar in March 2022. And yes the plan is to get some Football Ferns games before the end of the year too, as it should be.

• New Zealand vs Curaçao – Sunday 10 October at 5am (NZT)

• New Zealand vs Bahrain – Wednesday 13 October 5am (NZT)

Trying to find teams to play against is no simple task. With all the covidity of the last year and a half, federations are trying to cram in a heap of World Cup qualifiers in a short-ish space of time and that took most nations out of the friendly pool during the October window. NZF had to seek out countries that are no longer in contention to make the 2022 World Cup. And, praise to the gilded spirit, they managed to find a couple.

In Asia they’re a few games into the 12-team third round of qualifying. Two groups of six with the top two from each advancing to Qatar 2022 (it’s still crazy that there’s a World Cup in Qatar when basically everyone who voted for it has since been banned from FIFA) and the third-placed teams compete for a place in the intercontinental playoff... which could be against New Zealand if all things go well. Would definitely prefer that to another South American jaunt.

Bahrain didn’t make the third round. They weren’t expected to, as the 19th seeded team at the time of the draw, but to be fair to them they ran it close. They were on course to advance when the pandemic hit with three wins and two draws from five games. But a 3-0 loss to Iran in June 2021 was a killer and they slipped to third in the group (behind Iran and Iraq). They’d only conceded one goal in seven games prior so expect a team that’ll be tough to break down. Not a squad with any fancy names from big clubs with almost their entire group based domestically... though there are a couple dudes still hanging around from the last time they played New Zealand. Goalkeeper Sayed Jaafer and striker Ismail Abdullatif both played a certain 2009 game in Wellington. Chris Wood is the only NZer still playing internationally from that crew.

Meanwhile in CONCACAF qualifying they’re into their third round, dubbed The Octagonal, where there are eight teams vying for three automatic spots and one playoff spot. Curaçao did what needed doing in round one with wins over Cuba, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the British Virgin Islands setting them up with an effective decider against Guatamala to advance. The game ended 0-0 and Curaçao went through on equal points and equal goal difference thanks to having scored one goal more overall than Guatamala.

They were then paired with Panama in round two, a home and away leg to book a place in the third round. But they weren’t able to do it. A 2-1 defeat in the away leg proved too much to overturn and this time a goalless draw at home was an enemy and not a friend. They’re now out of contention. Didn’t make The Octagonal. Hence they’re available for a crack at the All Whites in a few weeks. And although it’s nowhere near as bad as the absence the All Whites have been through, Curaçao are also desperate for some games because they were meant to be playing in the Gold Cup in July until a covid outbreak forced them to withdraw.

You probably will recognise a few Curaçao players. It may only be a nation of 150k people but their Dutch colonisation means they’ve been able to call upon quite a few players based in Europe thanks to their Caribbean heritage. Cuco Martina used to play for Southampton and Everton. Vurnon Anita recently switched his allegiance to Curaçao, he most famously played for Ajax and Newcastle. The Bacuna brothers should be there. Leandro Bacuna is currently at Cardiff City after stints with Aston Villa and Reading while Juninho Bacuna just signed for Rangers in August. Tahith Chong (Birmingham on loan from Manchester United) was called up for the Gold Cup but obviously didn’t get to play. Armando Obispo is a teammate of Ryan Thomas’ at PSV. Daryl Lachmann is an import for Perth Glory. And, get this... Roly Bonevacia is a Curaçao international now! He’s been playing in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait since leaving the A-League so it’s only a short trip for him. Surely he gets to play against the All Whites. If only for sentimental reasons.

Granted... there won’t be too many ex-Phoenix teammates to catch up with. Because of the troubles with travels and quarantine places it’s likely that the 21-man squad won’t have a single player based in Australia or New Zealand. It’ll be predominantly European-based, though USA residents should be available too. Not sure what this means for Andre De Jong in South Africa. All goods. There are more than enough players to fill a squad out despite the lack of A-Leaguers. No dramas there. It just so happens there are more top pros from Aotearoa right now than ever before.

Here are some options, make a squad of them how you will...

GK – Michael Woud (Almere City), Stefan Marinovic (Hapoel Nof HaGalil), Nik Tzanev (AFC Wimbledon), Max Crocombe (Grimsby Town), Jamie Searle (Swansea)

FB – Liberato Cacace (STVV), Niko Kirwan (Calcio Padova), Dalton Wilkins (Kolding), Noah Billingsley (Phoenix), Deklan Wynne (OKC), Francis De Vries (Värnamo)

CB – Winston Reid (West Ham), Michael Boxall (Minnesota), Bill Tuiloma (Portland), Tommy Smith (Colchester), Nando Pijnaker (Helsingør), George Stanger (Hamilton Academical), Nikko Boxall (SJK), James Musa (Phoenix)

CM – Ryan Thomas (PSV), Joe Bell (Viking), Marko Stamenic (HB Køge), Giannis Stensness (Viking), Owen Parker-Price (Torslanda)

AM – Sarpreet Singh (SSV Jahn), Elijah Just (Helsingør), Joey Champness (Giresunspor), Matt Garbett (Torino), Logan Rogerson (FC Haka), Joel Stevens (Värnamo),

FW – Chris Wood (Burnley), Callum McCowatt (Helsingør), Ryan De Vries (Sligo Rovers), Andre De Jong (AmaZulu), Elliot Collier (Chicago)

And that’s not even close to everybody. It’ll be a strong squad. A squad more than capable of getting results against these two teams.

But results aren’t the most important thing, not yet. For now it’s far more about establishing an All Whites team identity and building combinations among the top kiwi players. That’s a process which is already well underway thanks to those convenient Olympic Games a couple months back. It wasn’t an All Whites tour but Danny Hay was there as manager and there will no doubt be massive crossover between the two squads. Chuck in the presence of All Whites captain Winston Reid and vice-captain Chris Wood in Tokyo as overage players and there should be way more continuity than you’d expect for a team that’s played twice in more than 1200 days.

They’re certainly not starting from scratch. But it’s still gonna take a lot more than two games to get the All Whites operating anywhere close to what they’re capable of. Getting consistent games in is the only path towards that target. Gotta keep that in mind throughout because two random friendlies don’t mean much unless they’re followed by more friendlies and then some competitive qualifiers and maybe even another World Cup one day. These are the first steps. We tried taking those first steps in November 2019 but then everything stopped. That was a false start. This is the true new beginning.

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