Veteran defender Andrew Durante may have been in the thick of an All Whites Confederation Cup camp, but the Wellington Phoenix captain still couldn't contain his enthusiasm regarding his A-League side's new coach.
Durante confirmed he knew who it was who'd been signed on to take charge of the struggling club next season.
While his tongue was well and truly bitten, the 35-year-old was clearly enthused by the acquisition.
"Very exciting. Can't say too much more, but obviously it's out there that it's a European coach," Durante stated, sporting a sly grin.
"The players are excited, I hope the fans are excited. Once it gets released and get a bit more knowledge of who it is I think everybody will be pretty excited by it.
"It's going to be a new beginning for everyone. Last season was disappointing, so we're looking to make it a big year coming up."
The All Whites have an enormous hole to plug with the absence of regular skipper and West Ham United star Winston Reid after he was ruled out of the Confederations Cup due to injury.
However Durante believes the side has the defensive depth to plug that hole, particularly in the backfield where it's likely the Sydney-born centre back will take the onus upon himself.
"He's a huge loss both on and off the field. He's a fantastic player and leader of our team and country, so it's definitely going to be felt that he's not around."
"Whoever plays at the back has to be vocal, has to be the leader organising the rest of the team – it's something I'm comfortable with if called on.
One thing Reid's absence won’t change is the formation used at the back, with the Kiwis set to continue with three players in the final third while maintaining flexibility should requirements change.
"It's something that’s reaped some good results over the last few windows we've had. The Mexico game and the USA games were probably prime examples of them working well against high quality opposition.
"We've also switched to a 4-4-2 diamond at times, so we've got a few formations we can rotate to if the gaffer feels we need to."
The All Whites will complete a training camp in Auckland this week before flying to link up with the European-based team members, with their first friendly against Northern Ireland scheduled for June 3rd.
Ten days later they'll be taking on Belarus, at which point a final squad for the Confederations Cup, beginning June 18th, will be named.
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