Past and present Wellington Phoenix players have played starring roles in New Zealand’s OFC Nations Cup win.
Captained by former Phoenix left back Liberato Cacace, the All Whites had an outstanding tournament, winning all four of their games without conceding a single goal.
The trophy is New Zealand’s sixth OFC Nations Cup title, which extends their record as the most successful team in the competition.
Phoenix captain Alex Rufer played every minute at the tournament, while reigning player of the year Kosta Barbarouses scored three goals across the four games.
The first group game against the Solomon Islands saw five Phoenix players from the 2023-24 squad make their senior international debuts.
Sam Sutton started at left back, while Alex Paulsen kept a clean sheet in a comfortable 3-0 win. They were joined from the bench by fellow debutants Lukas Kelly-Heald, Oskar van Hattum and Fin Conchie.
Previously capped All Whites; Rufer, Barbarouses, Tim Payne, Finn Surman and Ben Old also started.
Barbarouses captained the team in the absence of the suspended Cacace, scoring his first international goal since 2017, while Rufer was named player of the match.
The All Whites then eased to a 4-0 victory over Vanuatu to secure top spot in group A.
Seven Phoenix players were involved, with Old scoring his first senior goal for New Zealand in the 78th minute.
The semi final saw Tahiti blown away by the All Whites, with braces from Barbarouses and former Phoenix favourite Ben Waine, and a maiden international goal for Surman contributing to a 5-0 scoreline.
A rematch with Vanuatu in the final was tense for a period, but a Vanuatu red card allowed New Zealand to surge away late to emerge with a 3-0 win.
As well as the current Phoenix players who lifted the trophy, three former Wellington standouts were part of the victorious squad.
Cacace won the Golden Ball for the best player at the tournament, while Waine was the All Whites’ top scorer with four goals. Oli Sail was named in the squad but did not make an appearance.
All-time record Phoenix goalscorer Roy Krishna also featured prominently at the tournament, scoring six times for Fiji and claiming the tournament’s golden boot.
