Town centre-half Tommy Smith has been named in the New Zealand squad for their two-legged play-off against Mexico for a place at next summer's World Cup in Brazil. The All Whites won the Oceania qualifying group, while the Mexicans were fourth in the CONCACAF region.
Mexico are at home in the first leg on Wednesday 13th November with the return game in New Zealand a week later.
Coach Ricki Herbert plans to try to stifle the Mexicans in the first match at the 105,000-capacity Estadio Azteca before taking a more positive approach at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium in the second.
"The home fixture is ultra-important and after watching them against Finland move numbers forward quickly [and win 4-2] I’m sure they’ll try to set the tie alight and score goals in that first leg,” he said.
"That presents a strong challenge for us but also a good one. If we can be tight and very resolute we can put ourselves in a position to showcase our talents at home in the second leg.”
Smith is joined in the squad by one-time Town loanee Rory Fallon, while another former Blues loan player Giovani Dos Santos, now with Villarreal in Spain, may be involved with Mexico, although coach Miguel Herrera is undecided on whether he will call on Mexico’s Europe-based players for the tie.
The 23-year-old Town defender has won 25 full caps, scoring two international goals, and played in all three of New Zealand's games at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
All Whites: Glen Moss (Wellington Phoenix), Jacob Spoonley (Wellington Phoenix), Tamati Williams (Auckland City), Andrew Durante (Wellington Phoenix), Tony Lochhead (Unattached), Winston Reid (West Ham Utd), Storm Roux (Central Coast Mariners), Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town), Bill Tuiloma (Olympique Marseille), Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City), Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury Utd), Jeremy Christie (Unattached), Craig Henderson (Mjallby AIF), Chris James (Kuopion Palloseura), Michael McGlinchey (Central Coast Mariners), Kosta Barbarouses (Melbourne Victory), Jeremy Brockie (Wellington Phoenix), Rory Fallon (St Johnstone), Marco Rojas (VfB Stuttgart), Shane Smeltz (Perth Glory), Chris Wood (Leicester City).