New Zealand goalkeeper Glen Moss has stated that he will be extremely happy to captain the team when they take on Japan next month. This will be the first match for new New Zealand manager Neil Emblen, who was appointed on an interim basis recently. He takes over from Ricki Herbert and it will be a huge task to overcome the achievements of the former coach. Herbert managed to lead New Zealand to their first appearance in a World Cup in the 2010 edition. The team did exceedingly well during this tournament, but have suffered since then.
Herbert left the role as the New Zealand manager after the team failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Emblen has stated that the path to qualify for the next edition, which will take place in Russia, begins with this match. However, he will be without important players like Tommy Smith and Winston Reid. In their absence, Moss is expected to captain the team. The goalkeeper, who is regarded as the Peter Shilton of this region, says that it will be an honour to lead the team. Japan are currently 48th in the latest FIFA rankings, while New Zealand are 91st.
Despite this gap, the goalkeeper is confident that New Zealand will be able to make an impact in this match.
“It was a pretty surreal moment when Embers told me I’d be captain for the match. I was already excited about the game and looking forward to getting into camp and now I’ve been made captain, it’s raised that feeling up a notch. It’s a pretty proud moment for me. Embers and I have known each other for a while now and I’ve also been in the set-up for a while now too going back to 2005,” said the goalkeeper about the possibility of captaining the team.