Tall and broad-shouldered, the New Zealand football team has so far set a fine first impression since landing in India ahead of the Fifa Under-17 World Cup. Their aggressive brand of football had even the Brazil outfit stretched as the two sides squared off in a warm-up game in Mumbai on Thursday.
For New Zealand, the tournament not only provides an opportunity for the young lads to showcase their talent at a world stage, but also seal their place as professional football players. It is a feat not many in the Oceania region have found easy to come by.
In a country obsessed with rugby, other sports usually take a back seat. Like cricket, football, is also not widely followed in New Zealand, even though they have good international teams. According to the New Zealand assistant coach Chris Zoricich, a former player himself, working on the side was always a necessity.
He played as a professional footballer for 16 years, and even had a short stint with Premier League side Chelsea’s reserve team. The experience, though, did not help him secure a coaching job back home in Auckland after he hung his boots.
“End of my career I went back to New Zealand and was thinking of stepping away from football at that time. My brother owns a cafe so I went back there and worked there for almost a year. I was basically a waiter, serving coffee and food,” said Zoricich.
After the struggle, he went onto coach his local club before landing a job in the New Zealand youth set-up. Zorchich lamented on the lack of employment opportunities for footballers back in New Zealand, which basically forced him to search for employment in other places.
“We only have one professional team Wellington Phoenix who play in the Australian League so realistically for anyone who wants to make it to top level football, he has to leave New Zealand to pursue that,” said Zoricich, who had moved to England at the age of 18.
“However, the national league is getting stronger. Hopefully we can get to a stage where the younger players don’t have to leave early to pursue their professional careers and can use the New Zealand league as a stepping stone,” said Zoricich.
Among the 21-member squad that has arrived in India, most represent local clubs in New Zealand, where money is, understandably not as high. However, three have been picked up by Brisbane Roar to be part of their youth team.
Coach Danny Hay, a former skipper of the New Zealand senior football team, chalked out a career for himself in football by moving abroad. After representing amateur clubs in New Zealand, he found his footing with a two-year stint with Australian team Perth Glory. From then on he moved to England where he represented Leeds United.
Their goal-keeping coach Jason Batty had also kick-started his football career abroad. He was part of the Norwich City youth team and spent most of his career in England. Zoricich, Hay and Batty are all former New Zealand skippers. Through their tutelage they hope, a few youngsters part of the current U-17 side will one day find the right platform to make a career as a professional footballer.
“Obliviously we have a good tournament here then we have scouts watching and potentially they can be on the radar of clubs...some boys here are capable of doing that. They will be looking to go overseas to pursue their career,” Zorichich said.
“The three of us [coaches] have the experience of playing in big tournaments and we can pass that on to the future, who are the under-17 players...plus we are three coaches who don’t like losing something we want to instill in the players,” Zoricich added.
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