Wellington - Teenager Chris Wood, a rookie striker with English club West Bromwich Albion, and veteran goalkeeper James Bannatyne, 33, were named Thursday to the New Zealand All Whites squad for next month's FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. Making their third appearance in the Confederations Cup, the All Whites are being led by Ryan Nelsen of the Blackburn Rovers, who took part in both the 1999 and 2003 campaigns and has 33 caps.
Other members of the 23-man squad who played in France in 2003 are Simon Elliott, Chris Killen, Shane Smeltz, Duncan Oughton, David Mulligan and Mark Paston.
Midfielder Elliott, who plays for the San Jose Earthquakes, is the All Whites' most experienced international with 58 caps.
Killen (28 caps) and Smeltz (23 caps) are the squad's most prolific goalscorers with 15 and 13 to their credit, respectively.
Coach Ricki Herbert said 17-year-old Wood had earned his first international call-up after becoming only the fifth New Zealander to play in the English Premier League when called off the substitutes bench to play for West Bromwich Albion against Portsmouth last month after showing impressive goal-scoring form with the under-18 and reserve teams.
"When I first took the job in 2005, I said age wasn't a barrier to selection and that if we found a young guy we thought was good enough, we'd put him in the team," Herbert said.
The New Zealand-based squad members are to leave on May 27, setting up camp in Botswana ahead of opening friendlies against Botswana and Tanzania.
On June 9, the All Whites are to move to South Africa to prepare for another friendly against world champions Italy and the eight-nation Confederations Cup.
They are in Group A with South Africa, Iraq and Spain while Group B consists of Brazil, Italy, Egypt and the United States.
The New Zealand squad is: Bannatyne (Wellington), Glen Moss (Melbourne Victory), Paston (Phoenix), Andrew Boyens (New York Red Bulls), Tony Lochhead (Phoenix), Mulligan (Phoenix), Nelsen, Steven Old (Kilmarnock), Aaron Scott (Melville United/Waitakere United), Ben Sigmund (Phoenix), Andy Barron (Wellington), Leo Bertos (Phoenix), Tim Brown (vice captain, Phoenix), Jeremy Christie (Phoenix), Elliott, Chris James (Tampere United), Oughton (Columbus Crew), Kris Bright (Panserraikas), Jeremy Brockie (North Queensland Fury), Killen (Celtic), Smeltz (Gold Coast United), Jarrod Smith (Seattle Sounders) and Wood.
