All Whites coach Ricki Herbert has given a strong signal of intent by naming his strongest possible squad for a World Cup warm up match against Mexico in Los Angeles on March 3.

Herbert has named a 17 man squad that is without two members – Ivan Vicelich and Mark Paston –of a heroic defensive unit that kept Bahrain scoreless over 180 minutes, but sees Glen Moss return from suspension and newcomers Tommy Smith and Olympic Games standout Craig Henderson given a chance to push for a place in Herbert’s final 23 for South Africa.

Paston, one of the heroes of World Cup qualification, has yet to recovery from a fractured tibia while Vicelich is suspended for one friendly after picking up a red card against Jordan in September.

The match against the fellow World Cup finalists is the first outing for New Zealand’s World Cup heroes since securing qualification to South Africa in November and with no further international windows before the official World Cup lead-in begins in May, Herbert says his 17-man All White squad will make the most of this opportunity.

“It’s very important for us,” Herbert said.

“We haven’t played for nearly four months now and we could be a little rusty. It’s incredibly important that we get the players in now and set the tone for the future, and hence the reason why we’ve picked very tough team to play against. Mexico won’t do us any favours but that gets us back to the reality of what we’re going to face in South Africa in June.”

“It’s the one opportunity we get [before May] so we haven’t held back.”

New Zealand Football have already confirmed an Austrian base for a training camp in late May with games against Serbia and Slovenia added to the schedule.

Moss, suspended for the playoff matches in Manama and Wellington, was one of the All Whites best performers at the FIFA Confederations Cup last year is an obvious replacement for Paston, while 19-year-old Tommy Smith likely to see significant time against Mexico after making himself available for the country in which he spent some of his childhood.

Smith, a left-sided central defender and former England age-group international declared his allegiance to New Zealand late last year.

“Anyone connected to a Championship club is extremely exciting in terms of building the squad. From an age standpoint he’s can look forward to a few World Cup campaigns in the future and I think he could be a real talent for us.”

Attacking midfielder Henderson (22) recently graduated from Dartmouth University and his decision to look to Europe rather than pursue a Major League Soccer contract paid off for the New Zealand Olympian when he signed with newly promoted Swedish premier league side Mjällby.

“Craig was one of the standouts in the Olympic campaign in my view. I’ve worked with Craig a little bit in the past and by the recent recognition of a three year contract at a big club in Sweden is a strong way of waving the flag to be looked at. Athletically and technically he could fit in to what we’re trying to do and be involved in future campaigns. We’ve got no hesitation.

New Zealand squad to face Mexico

(Club, caps/goals in brackets)

Goalkeepers

Glen MOSS (Melbourne Victory, Australia – 15/0)
James BANNATYNE (Team Wellington – 5/0)

Defenders

Tony LOCHHEAD (Wellington Phoenix – 29/0)
Ryan  NELSEN (Blackburn Rovers, England / Captain – 41/9)
Andrew BOYENS (New York Red Bulls, USA – 15/0)
Ben SIGMUND (Wellington Phoenix – 12/1)
Tommy SMITH (Brentford, England – 0/0)

Midfielders

Andy BARRON (Team Wellington – 13/1)
Leo BERTOS (Wellington Phoenix – 30/0)
Tim BROWN (Wellington Phoenix – 27/0)
Simon ELLIOTT (San Jose Earthquakes, USA – 69/8)
Michael McGLINCHEY (Motherwell, Scotland – 3/0)
Craig HENDERSON (Mjällby AIF, Sweden – 0/0)

Forwards

Shane SMELTZ (Gold Coast United, Australia – 32/17)
Rory FALLON (Plymouth Argyle, England – 3/2)
Chris KILLEN (Middlesbrough, England – 35/17)
Chris WOOD (West Bromwich Albion, England – 5/0)

Confirmed World Cup build up

March 3
New Zealand v Mexico
Pasadena, USA

Late May (date tbc)
New Zealand v Serbia
Klagenfurt, Austria

June 4
New Zealand v Slovenia
Maribor, Slovenia

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

June 15
New Zealand v Slovakia
Rustenburg

June 20
New Zealand v Italy
Nelspruit

June 24
New Zealand v Paraguay
Polokwane