Nik Tzanev will help New Zealand begin their quest to play in the Olympic Games overnight.
After making his mark in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, the Brentford goalkeeper was called in to New Zealand’s Under-23 squad for the upcoming Pacific Games tournament.
The competition will also double as qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro and start next August.
Nik, who has three Under-20 caps, played New Zealand’s last two games in the Under-20 World Cup.
The 18-year-old is one of three goalkeepers in the Under-23 squad and will be looking to make the step up.
New Zealand play Solomon Islands in their first game of the tournament – held in Papua New Guinea – in the early hours of the morning.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 12noon local time, which is 3am BST.
They also have to play Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia in the group phase early next month before the top two teams in each group move on the semi-finals.
The winner of the tournament overall will qualify for the Olympic Games.