March 30, 2011

Boston College sophomore Colin Murphy has been named to New Zealand's national squad that will participate in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Under-20 Championship from April 19-30, 2011 in Auckland, New Zealand., according to an announcement made by New Zealand Football on Wednesday.

Murphy, a midfielder, has played in 42 games in his two seasons at Boston College. He is a resident of Onehunga, New Zealand who played the 2007 and 2008 seasons at Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) after playing the previous two years at St. Paul's Collegiate in Hamilton, New Zealand.

New Zealand is one of seven Pacific nations competing at the Oceania Football Confederation U-20 Championships. The seven teams will compete in two groups before the top two sides in each group face off in the semifinals on Wednesday, April 27 at Auckland's Centre Park in Mangere. The winners will square off the championship final on Friday, April 29.

The winning team from this qualifying tournament will represent Oceania at the FIFA U-20 World Cup that is to be held in Columbia from July 29 - August 20.

Murphy is one of two players selected from U.S. Universities - joining Fairleigh Dickinson goalkeeper James McPeake - to New Zealand's U-20 squad. Eight players were selected from professional clubs and leagues from a total of eight countries are represented on the team.

Murphy has 14 international caps, including three while playing for New Zealand in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea. He has also competed on a pre U-17 World Cup tour to the United States (Oregon), South America and South Korea. He played club soccer with Papatoetoe AFC, capturing Auckland city U-17 and U-19 titles.

New Zealand squad for OFC U-20 Championships

Group A: American Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu
Group B: Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand

New Zealand Schedule
April 21: bye
April 23: New Zealand v Solomon Islands
April 25: New Zealand v New Caledonia
April 27: Semifinals
April 29: Final and bronze medal match