Tommy Smith is going to a second World Cup. The 36-year-old Braintree Town defender has been named in New Zealand's 26-man squad, and he is already in pre-tournament camp with the team as it prepares for a first warm-up match and then the real test in the United States.

For Smith, that call-up carries a weight that goes beyond the squad list. Born in Macclesfield and raised largely in New Zealand, he is one of the few players in the group who has already lived this stage before, having played every minute of the country's 2010 World Cup campaign in South Africa. He said that at 36 this will not happen again for him as a player, so he is trying to embrace every moment, enjoy it and contribute as much as he can.

That is why his name keeps drawing attention now. New Zealand flew to Florida last month to acclimatise before the tournament, and the squad will face Haiti in a warm-up before opening Group G against Iran in Los Angeles on 16 June. Belgium and Egypt complete the group, and the scale of the challenge is obvious for a side that will be based in San Diego during the tournament.

Smith's presence also links two very different football worlds. He spent a year at Auckland City last season, then returned to England in August to join Braintree, who finished second-bottom and were relegated from the National League, leaving him to prepare for life in the sixth tier of English football. Now he is heading back to football's biggest stage, carrying the experience of a player who has watched both ends of the game up close.

There is a reason New Zealand still lean on that memory from 2010. They drew all three of their matches in South Africa, finished third in Group F and missed the knockout stage by a single point, even though they were the only undefeated team at the tournament. Smith played every minute of that campaign, and the hope this time is that a more varied squad can turn grit into progress rather than just admiration.

Smith said the pull to play for New Zealand has become more powerful than it was in the past, helped by what he described as a special environment created by the current and previous regimes. That is the promise of this squad now: not just another return for a veteran defender, but a genuine attempt to go beyond the group stage at last.