Wellington - Blackburn Rovers skipper Ryan Nelsen will captain a full-strength New Zealand All Whites side in the first leg of their World Cup qualifier against Bahrain in Manama on October 10 - a match coach Ricki Herbert dubbed Tuesday the nation's most important for 27 years. Herbert named a 19-man squad virtually unchanged since New Zealand's 3-1 victory over Jordan in a friendly in Amman earlier this month, including strikers Chris Killen and teenager Chris Wood, who missed that game because of injury.
It is the first time in his four years as coach that Herbert has had a fully fit squad to choose from, including Nelsen, 31, a veteran of 39 caps who missed the Confederations Cup in South Africa through a late injury.
The Manama game pits the Oceania champions and the Arab island nation that finished fifth place in the Asian World Cup playoff in the first leg of a home and away playoff to decide who goes to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The return leg is scheduled for Wellington on November 14.
Herbert said it was the most important match since the All Whites last qualified for the World Cup in 1982.
The only addition to the squad named for Jordan is Auckland City goalkeepers Jacob Spoonley, joining as cover for Mark Paston and James Bannatyne with Glen Moss sidelined by a four-match World Cup suspension following the All Whites' final Oceania group qualifier against Fiji in November.
Killen, who plays for Celtic in the Scottish League, is in form, scoring twice in two games recently and Wood, who signed a two-year contract with West Bromwich Albion at the age of 17 this year, is seen as a star of the future.
The All Whites will assemble in Dubai next week where they will be based until the day before the Manama match.
The squad is: James Bannatyne (Team Wellington), Mark Paston (Wellington Pheonix), Jacob Spoonley (Auckland City), Andrew Boyens (New York Red Bulls), Tony Lochhead (Wellington Phoenix), David Mulligan (Wellington Phoenix), Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn Rovers, captain), Aaron Scott (Waitakere United), Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix), Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City), Andy Barron (Miramar), Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix), Tim Brown (Wellington Phoenix), Simon Elliott (San Jose Earthquakes), Michael McGlinchey (Central Coast Mariners), Rory Fallon (Plymouth Argyle), Chris Killen (Celtic), Shane Smeltz (Gold Coast United), Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion).
