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The All Whites have secured an international friendly match against England, world No. 4.
The All Whites will play two of the top five ranked nations in world soccer in the space of a month later this year.
New Zealand soccer has been locked in a box office clash with world No. 4 England at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium, a month after the All Whites play world No. 1 Belgium in Brussels. .
The game against England will be played behind closed doors on Friday, November 13 (NZT).
New Zealand Soccer
All Whites manager Danny Hay is looking forward to playing Belgium in Brussels in October. (First published July 2020)
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It will be the first meeting between New Zealand and England since 1991 and only the third overall.
“Playing against a team the size of England will be a real test for the team, but this is the kind of challenge we want,” said coach Danny Hay.
“This is another great opportunity to test ourselves against one of the best teams in the world.”
Catherine Ivill / Getty Images
All Whites forward Callum McCowatt battled for possession with Irishman Derrick Williams last year.
The All Whites have been inactive since losing to Lithuania and the Republic of Ireland last November.
They were supposed to play a pair of friendlies in the Middle East in March, against Oman and Bahrain, but they were canceled as the Covid-19 pandemic began to take hold.
Hay has been preparing to select a team that will consist primarily of players based in Europe due to travel restrictions.
Those actions were recently spurred by the movements of Liberato Cacace and Callum McCowatt from Wellington Phoenix to Sint-Truiden in Belgium and Helsingør in Denmark.
Both players started against Ireland with McCowatt scoring New Zealand’s only goal in the 3-1 loss.
Under-17 star Marko Stamenic, who was ready for his first call-up in March, also moved to Denmark to join FC Copenhagen, putting him back in the squad.
