Academy central defender Tommy Smith has been called up to the New Zealand U17 squad for the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament in March. Smith, who joined the Town youth set-up full-time last summer, was recently tipped to break into the first team by the end of the season by manager Jim Magilton.

New Zealand will take on Fiji, the Cook Islands, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu in the tournament which is being held in Tahiti. The winners go through to the finals in South Korea in August.

New Zealand U17s: Michael O'Keeffe (Marlborough United), Jake Gleeson (Western Suburbs), Mars Keomahavong (Albany), Godwin Darkwa (Central United), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town), Nick Corliss (Papatoetoe), Tim Myers (Eastern Suburbs), Fraser Colson (Western Suburbs), Isaac Fitzgerald (Central United), Tyson Brandt (Taranaki), Colin Murphy (Papatoetoe), Cory Chettleburgh (Manawatu), Hamish Chang (Avon United), Ben Hunt (Papatoetoe), Jason Hicks (Albany), Jacob Mathews (Central United), Geoff Macintyre (Burnside), Moses Petelo (Western Suburbs), Costa Barbarouses (Team Wellington), Mario Hofmann (Kyoto Purple Sanga).

Photo: Action Images

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