The Fifa Under 20 Men’s World Cup will be played in Colombia in September 2011.

New Zealand will host the Oceania Qualifying Tournament in January with the winner progressing directly to the World Cup Finals.

Chris Milicich has been appointed Head Coach of the New Zealand Under 20 Men’s Team.  Chris is working with each of the Federations as part of his initial player identification.  As part of this identification process players are invited to attend a South Island trial match to be held in Timaru.  The details of which are:-

Date:                           Sunday 9^th May

Meeting Time:            12.00pm

Location:                    Aorangi Park, Timaru

Match Time:   2.00pm

Chris Milicich and his Assistant Coach, Sean Douglas will be attending this trial match.  Alan Walker (Mainland) and Terry Phelan (Football South) will oversee the teams.

A number of trial matches are being held around the country from which Chris will invite an initial squad of approximately 30 players to attend a training camp in Auckland.  This is scheduled for 4-8 July but is subject to confirmation.  Overseas based players will also attend this camp.  Ongoing identification will include monitoring/assessment of players identified. Further camps and a possible tour are all planned as part of the build up to the Qualifiers.

As you will be aware New Zealand has had major success over the past four years at qualifying for the World Cup Tournaments.  Part of these successes is due to the time commitment made by the players and the significant personal training programme’s they have undertaken.  In making the 2011 New Zealand Under 20 Squad the same will be expected of all players, as the rewards can be immense.

We look forward to a positive step forward for the players in Timaru and wish them luck in their endeavours to represent our country on the international stage.