KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — In August 2014, Coach Anthony Hudson left the men’s national soccer team in Bahrain partly because he had grown tired of being unable to plan beyond the short term in a region where teams routinely change coaches at a moment’s notice.
Now in charge of New Zealand’s national team, Hudson seems to be finding the long term the only option available to him. New Zealand’s geographical isolation means its calendar is barer than most, with the national team playing just three games in 2015, compared with 10 for England, 14 for Brazil, 17 for Japan and 20 for the United States.