The current head coach of the Canada national soccer team, John Herdman, seems to be on the move. Reports suggest the 47-year-old will be moving to the New Zealand national team. Herdman previously worked with the New Zealand women’s team from 2003 to 2011. He was head coach for his last five years with the team.
Newshub reports that Herdman is the preferred choice to take charge of the New Zealand men’s team. Although the contracts have not been signed and the move is not yet official, the news outlet hopes the deal will go through. Apparently, a verbal agreement has been reached between the two parties.
Herdman will not be on the sidelines next month
New Zealand recently released their next schedule for the start of 2023. The All Whites will play China twice at home in March. While Herdman apparently has plenty of time to work out a contract, the team has announced that interim head coach Darren Bazeley will take over for both games.
“The frontrunner for the All Whites permanent head coach job had to be called up to help manage a family health issue, meaning he was unable to take over ahead of these matches,” a statement read. official about the ordeal.
Although New Zealand officials did not specifically name Herdman, the aforementioned report also claims that the team confirmed their number one target is “100 percent” on board. However, the personal situation will temporarily suspend the presentation.
John Herdman led Canada to the 2022 World Cup
Herdman made headlines at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for interesting comments about Croatia. The coach spoke to reporters after a narrow loss to Belgium and admitted that he told his players that they would “go and beat Croatia” in their next game. However, Canada would lose the match to Croatia 4-1.
The timing of a move to the New Zealand team is surprising. Canada is a talented team and is about to co-host the 2026 World Cup along with the United States and Mexico. However, Herdman’s son Jay represented the New Zealand under-19 team in September.
