The financial realities of a tumultuous year at New Zealand Football have hit All Whites coach Fritz Schmid where it hurts the most.
Schmid's struggled to secure fixtures since taking the helm in February.
Schmid hopes the fixture against the Republic of Ireland in November will be the first of many.
Since the 59-year-old walked into the job last February he's only taken charge of the All Whites on four occasions.
The reason why is simple.
"Everybody is aware of the situation we went through with New Zealand football and it was very clear that this might also affect our activities". Schmid said
The organisation was left more than half a million dollars out of pocket after funding an extensive review and making two high profile layoffs.
Last year's upheaval only compounds the problem New Zealand Football faces.
"With our geographic isolation to try and travel and get games around the world is a costly exercise." Said interim technical director Andy Boyens
With 2018 behind them they've found the funds to take on the Republic of Ireland in Dublin in November.
The All Whites coach recognizes beggars can't be choosers for future fixtures.
"I'm not against other opportunities maybe with lower ranked teams or on a lower level regarding expenses." Schmid said.
While financing matches is nothing new, New Zealand Football continues to look for solutions
The world cup expanding from 32 teams to 48 in 2026 could be a far off answer.
"That's an opportunity for us to qualify a bit more often than we have on the men's side and that's a big financial windfall for the organization." Boyens said.
In the meantime, Schmid's just looking forward to getting his hands dirty once more.
Newshub.
