There is a sizeable Wellington Phoenix presence in the New Zealand U-17 squad selected to travel to Japan for the Niigata Tournament, with half the squad picked from the Nix academy.
Zach Cashmore, Grayson Cattle, Jack Clegg, Willem Des Tombe, Gethyn Foster, Cailean Hamilton, Joe McIntyre, Cruz Pietersen, and Ben Trenberth are the nine Phoenix players in the 18-man squad.
The junior All Whites will travel to Japan to compete in the 28th edition of the Niigata tournament in mid-September.
The side will open their campaign against a U-17 Niigata regional representative side (17 September, kick-off 3pm NZT), before facing Myanmar U-17 (19 September, kick-off 6pm NZT) and Japan U-17 (21 September, kick-off 6pm NZT).
The tournament also comes just two months ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which will be played in Qatar.
“It is really important to give players the opportunity to test themselves in competitive international games ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, so this tournament is the perfect preparation,” U-17 head coach Martin Bullock said.
