Four Wellington Phoenix players have been named in the first Football Ferns squad of 2025.
Decorated midfielder Annalie Longo (136 caps), forward Grace Jale (34 caps), defender Mackenzie Barry (20 caps) and uncapped winger Manaia Elliott have been rewarded for their performances for the Phoenix with selection in the Ferns for this month’s matches against Costa Rica in San José.
Longo, Jale and Barry all featured for New Zealand at last year’s Paris Olympics, the Ferns’ most recent fixtures, while Elliott has been called up to the senior side for just the second time.
She was named in the Football Ferns for their matches against Colombia at the end of 2023, but didn’t feature.
Elliott returned to Colombia last year as captain of the New Zealand team at the U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup and is the Phoenix’s equal top goal scorer in the 2024-25 Ninja A-League, having found the back of the net three times.
The quartet will fly to Costa Rica after the Nix’s round 16 match against the Glory in Perth on Sunday, February 16.
The first match between the Ferns and Costa Rica is the following Sunday (NZ time), with the second game on Wednesday, February 26 (NZT).
Both matches will be played at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, San José.
