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England\u2019s international friendly against New Zealand in November has been called off due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\nEngland\u2019s international friendly against New Zealand in November has been called off due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
Gareth Southgate\u2019s side were due to host the All Whites on November 12th at Wembley but England are now looking for new opponents.<\/p>\n
New Zealand have withdrawn from the clash due to \u201cfurther travel and player availability complications caused by Covid-19\u201d.<\/p>\n
New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell said in a statement: \u201cIt is with deep regret that we have been forced to cancel our participation in the upcoming match against England at Wembley.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not an action taken lightly, this is a match we all wanted to play, however, as it stands of the last All Whites squad selected for the November 2019 tour, even excluding the New Zealand based players, a significant number of the team would be subject to quarantine or restrictions on their return home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis would heavily disrupt their domestic seasons and potentially jeopardize their professional careers.\u201d<\/p>\n
All Whites head coach Danny Hay added: \u201cI\u2019m gutted, and I know the players will also be, but this is one of those situations we can\u2019t do anything about.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always knew when planning for these fixtures that certain players would be unavailable but looking at the restrictions currently in place, as well as the rising number of Covid-19 cases across Europe, it just isn\u2019t possible to put a competitive squad together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all want to be playing more games but coming up against one of the top sides in the world with a heavily understrength team doesn\u2019t do anything to help our long-term development.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was set to be only the third meeting between the two countries, and the first in England. The two previous matches were both part of the Three Lions\u2019 1991 summer tour of New Zealand when Graham Taylor\u2019s team won 1-0 in Auckland and 2-0 in Wellington.<\/p>\n
England wrote on their official Twitter account: \u201cWe can confirm New Zealand\u2019s withdrawal from next month\u2019s international friendly. We will announce replacement opposition in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new opponents will be seen as preparation ahead of England\u2019s final two UEFA Nations League Group A2 fixtures away to Belgium on November 15 and at home against Iceland three days later.<\/p>\n