BRAINTREE defender Tommy Smith has been named in New Zealand’s World Cup squad.
It likely makes the former defender, 36, the lowest-ranked, England-based player to go to this summer’s feast of football in North America.
Tommy Smith was an Ipswich stalwart but now plays for Braintree Credit: Getty Images
Essex side Braintree were relegated from the National League this season, so have dropped into the National League South.
That is the fifth tier of our national football pyramid, though it remains to be seen if Smith will continue with Town next term.
Nottingham Forest striker has also been included in the Kiwis’ contingent for the upcoming tournament and will captain the team the 26-man squad.
Both Wood, 34, and Smith played the last time New Zealand were at the , 16 years ago in South Africa.
Remarkably, the Oceanic side were the only nation not to lose a game at that competition, drawing all three of their group games.
That included a shock 1-1 stalemate with reigning champions Italy, though Smith gave away the penalty for the Azzurri’s leveller.
Yet that hat-trick of positive results was not enough to see them reach the knockout stages.
And it is only until this year that they have qualified for international football’s most prestigious tournament once again.
New Zealand, ranked 85th in the world, are in Group G alongside Belgium, Egypt and Iran.
Boss Darren Bazeley, who hails from Northampton but like Smith holds dual nationality, and his side face in a World Cup warm-up in Tampa, Florida on June 6.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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