Minnesota United veteran defender Michael Boxall on Thursday night was named to the New Zealand men’ssoccer national team that will play in the Olympics next month in Tokyo.
It is undetermined when Boxall will temporarily leave the Loons to join the national squad. He has made more than 30 appearances for New Zealand’s national team since his debut in 2011 and has played in World Cup qualifying and the 2017 Confederations Cup.
This will be Boxall’s first Olympics. He is one of three players older than 23 allowed on the country’s roster.
Boxall on Tuesday spoke about his three teammates who had played in the European Championship — Robin Lod and Jukka Raitala of Finland and Jan Gregus of Slovakia — when he said, “I always want them to do well. We want those players helping us win games here. If they’d get reach the quarters and semifinal, that’s massive for their career. We’d like them back, but wish them all the best.”
Now he is the one called to his national team.