Flying Kiwis – May 29
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Always gotta keep those wins ticking over and, after picking up one point from their last three games, Boxall and the folks bagged a three-for with a 2-0 win over Montreal Impact this week. This was their third home game in a row and their fifth form their past six and they don’t have another home one until the end of next month so… yeah, needed this one.
Darwin Quintero went close late in a mostly dull first half, neither team at their best in the heat, before Alexi Gomez smacked the crossbar. But Christian Ramirez managed to squeeze an opener past the Impact’s keeper after Ibson had intercepted a pass out of the defence and slipped it to Ramirez. Terrible goal to concede for the defence, usually that’s what Minnesota do. However there was no stopping Ibarra’s goal six minutes later. Minnesota had a couple chances to add to that lead and never did. No worries. 2-0 was the final score with Boxall barely troubled at the back.
Zone Coverage Player Ratings: “CB Michael Boxall, 8 — It felt like the New Zealander was flawless on the night, and as it turns out, the stats pretty much back that up. Though Boxall’s workload wasn’t overwhelming, he handled everything that came his way with poise. This has been building for some time as the 29-year-old has been providing solid performances for more than a month now.”
Boxall was one of a number of players (including all the professional ones based in America) not considered for the All Whites squad with his club unwilling to release him. They don’t technically have to and it’s no surprise that they didn’t, considering that club captain and fellow centre-back Francisco Calvo is about to leave for the World Cup with Costa Rica. That’s not news. But this is…
Adrian Heath: “In terms of his personality, maybe a little bit, because he is one of those senior guys. But in terms of the way he’s playing, he can’t do an awful lot more. He’s not one of them who screams and shouts. He’s more about his actions. And, you know, I think he’ll be really pleased, the fact that he’ll lead the team out next week. And we’ll see how he does. But he’s been terrific since he’s been here.”
Clean sheet, three points, soon to be the temporary captain… this was a good week for Mikey. No wonder he didn’t have time to check twitter for the updates, having to rely on his barber for the news…
Mike Boxall: “I mean, my barber told me yesterday, so that was when I found out [Friday] night. Honestly, it means a lot that Adrian thinks that highly of me. And to be honest, I think it’s just going to be up to more than just me stepping up to replace Calvo’s leadership. I think we’ve got plenty of that. Ibson, Rasmus [Schuller], they’re big leaders in the middle for us. And then Darwin [Quintero’s] a big character, too. So I think all over the park, we’ve got more than enough.”
Up Next: Away to Sporting Kansas City, Monday at 12.30pm (NZT)
Emma Rolston – MSV Duisburg (German Frauen-Bundesliga)
There’s some quality news for ya. First of what’ll hopefully be a flurry of new signings and transfers amongst the Flying Kiwis in the upcoming European offseason. Rolston’s a 21 year old midfielder who made her Footy Ferns debut off the bench in the last game against Scotland in March and has featured in a Flying Kiwis or two in the past after spending the last W-League season with Sydney FC.
There’s currently a trio of kiwi players in the Bundesliga, a league which has been friendly to players from New Zealand in the past. Duisburg aren’t a whole lot better than USV Jena or FC Köln in fact they just lost 4-0 away to SC Sand this week, but at least they’ll still be in the top flight next season, guaranteed to finish no lower than tenth with one week remaining. Fantastic news for Emma Rolston.
Up Next: Footy Ferns duty, then a bit of German preseason
C.J. Bott - USV Jena / Amber Hearn & Meikayla Moore – FC Köln (German Frauen-Bundesliga)
But things didn’t go down so well for the rest of the kiwi contingent in Germany in the penultimate week of the Bundesliga. Both games kicked off simultaneously on Monday morning, NZT, and despite being at home to Werder Bremen and despite knowing that a win would elevate them above their opponents and out of the relegation zone… FC Köln were trailing 1-0 in just the second minute of theirs.
Both Meikayla Moore and Amber Hearn started this one, although Moore was sacrificed ten minutes into the second half as they pressed for that crucial goal that would at least give them a chance of staying in the division. Scoring goals has been a problem all campaign and when Nora Clausen doubled the lead with five minutes to go, that was pretty much it. Köln lost 2-0 and with it sealed their relegation straight back down to the second division, a year after being promoted.
USV Jena were no better. CJ Bott didn’t play any part as her team were beaten 4-0 at home by SC Freiburg, down 2-0 at the break and it only got worse from there. With that they also confirm their relegation with a week to spare, a bigger deal for Jena who have been battling away in the top flight since the 2008–09 season. Never should’ve released Amber Hearn, obviously.
Remains to be seen how the contracts for the three kiwis will be affected by relegation but if they do end up playing in the second tier next time out then they’ll have some company with Jana Radosavljević doing her thing for BV Cloppenburg there, scoring 10 goals in 22 games in the Bundesliga 2 North. Jana was called up for the tour to Thailand last year, having previously played for Serbia’s U19s, although she’s yet to make her Ferns debut and isn’t in the latest squad.
Up Next: USV are away to Duisburg at 12am on Monday, FCK are away to Wolfsburg at the same time (NZT)
Tommy Smith, Kip Colvey & Deklan Wynne – Colorado Rapids (American Major League Soccer)
Oh dear. Not good. The Rapids brought a five-game losing streak into their game with the Portland Timbers and the Timbers brought a five-game winning streak to the party. Safe to say that the match went according to the form book and both have now ticked off and even half-dozen on their respective journeys in opposite directions. Anthony Hudson, what have you to say for yourself!
Anthony Hudson: “It’s difficult, in our run, to talk about lots and lots of positives. All I would say is that they kept going, they kept working and we’re better than the results are showing recently. We’re a better team than that. Disappointing night.”
That disappointing night almost saw them behind in the sixth minute when Tommy Smith gave the ball away in his own penalty area. Eventually they did go behind, Samuel Armenteros with an absolute schooling of centre-back Danny Wilson (glad it wasn’t one of the NZers) for the opener, although the Rapids struck back swiftly thanks to a Julio Cascante own goal... Cascante being the guy who is currently keeping Bill Tuiloma out of the Timbers starting XI. But then Tim Howard couldn’t handle Seb Blanco’s cross and Armenteros had a double, right on 36 minutes played.
Diego Valeri scored Portland’s third from a second half counter attack. Colorado exposed on the break after losing the ball with half their defence committed forward for an attacking corner. Once again you’ve gotta wonder where the midfield was. Anyway, Howard denied Armanteros a hatty before Yannick pulled one back with the last kick of the game, a 99th minute penalty kick. 3-2 to Portland.
Hudson made two subs at half-time, Yannick Boli replacing Shkelzen Gashi and Axel Sjoberg on for Danny Wilson. Axel Sjoberg is the bloke a lot of fans reckon needs to be starting at CB, with Deklan Wynne something of a recipient of faith there from the manager. Neither Smith nor Wynne had their best games but they also weren’t at fault for any of the goals (and Kip Colvey wasn’t in the matchday squad). That manager, however… seems like he really needs to get a few proper results, rather than more moral victories, because the fans are getting a tad fed up.
Burgundy Wave addresses the big grey animal you were all wondering about: “To address the elephant in the room, I actually don’t think he’s favoring the Kiwis over other Rapids. It seems to me that Hudson is trying to figure out the right combination with what he has, which is why we’re seeing guys like Nana in positions that they are clearly uncomfortable in. I assume that Deklan Wynne will lose his starting spot when Kortne Ford comes back, but Tommy Smith is a quality centerback that has earned his spot in the starting XI.”
Up Next: Colorado Rapids vs Vancouver Whitecaps, Saturday at 1pm (NZT)
Jake Gleeson & Bill Tuiloma – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
The glory of that win wasn’t quite reflected onto the two NZers who happened to be sitting on the bench for Portland, although Billy T did at least make an entrance late on to help maintain that scoreline. Task accomplished, by the way.
Chances are that this is what we’re in for until there’s an injury or loss of form that demands a change. These two have earned their spots on the bench but haven’t cracked the starting XI, though everyone gets their chances over a long season. Stay vigilant.
Up Next: Portland vs LA Galaxy, Sunday at 9am (NZT)
Aimee Phillips – Spartak Subotica (Serbian Super Liga Zene)
Chuck another one in the league title winners list. Phillips missed out on national team selection recently but she was on hand to score in Spartak’s final game of the season, a 4-0 victory over Crvena Zvezda which more than made up for the defeat they took against the same opponents three weeks ago. Even a little bit of the defeat in the cup semis against those same jokers too.
In both those games the Spartaks did enough to win but didn’t quite have luck on their side (at least that’s what their website claimed). This time they made it happen. No luck required. They did get away with a few in the first half as Zvezda missed a hat-trick of great chances to score but then Tijana Matić took a pop from the edge of the area and the ball found its way into the net, last minute of the first half. In the second they came out and Phillips somehow snuck through the defence to make it 2-0, before playing a part in the build-up for the third goal, a second for Matić. Three goals in ten minutes. Alina Baka put it to bed with a minute left and it was trophy time.
Hey and that also means another kiwi heading into the Champions League next season, along with Ali Riley and Katie Rood. Gotta rate a bit of that.
Up Next: Celebrations, pretty much
Ali Riley – FC Rosengård vs Hannah Wilkinson – Vittsjö GIK (Swedish Damallsvenskan)
Speaking of. Here we go, a couple Footy Ferns going head to head over in Sweden. And it couldn’t have started much better for Ali Riley, skipping down that left wing after a brilliant turn and then whipping in the cross for the opening goal, finished off by Fiona Brown. Might’ve even had a penalty on another day if it hadn’t ended up as a goal already. 1-0 up after 17 minutes.
It was still only 1-0 at the break but the Rosies were all over it, hitting the crossbar and drawing a quality save or two out of Vittsjö keeper Shannon Lynn (another Scotswoman, along with Brown). Riley was a force getting forward all game with a lot of stuff happening down her left, although when the second goal eventually did come it was through some absolute quality on the other side between Brown and Anja Mittag. Super goal, that one.
It wasn’t until the 77th minute that Hannah Wilkinson got introduced off the bench but Vittsjö did have probably their best spell of play in that final quarter of an hour. Wilks didn’t manage to get on the end of anything but she’s always a danger from those deep crosses. A few nervous moments there before Rosengård clung on for a 2-0 win.
Another narrow defeat for Vittsjö, who are only out of the relegation zone on goal difference after six games while Rosengård get back to winning ways after dropping one last week against Kristianstad.
Up Next: Rosengård are away to Limhamn Bunkeflo at 4.30am on Friday while Vittsjö hosts Växjö on Monday morning at 1am (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie – Mamelodi Sundowns (South African Premier Soccer League)
All done for Brox, who was an unused sub as the Sundowns drew 2-2 away to Horoya in the CAF Champions League. It was 0-0 at half-time and both teams spent time in the lead. Pretty hectic contest. It means that the Brazilians have so far drawn both their group stage games, so they’ll need to get a few three-pointers back at home when the tournament resumes ahead of the next South African season.
In the meantime it’s season over and time for a holiday. Hopefully there’ll be a bunch more goals next time out but as both Brockie and his coach have said several times he wasn’t bought to make an immediate impact, he’s had time to fit into the squad now and should hit the ground running next time. Fingers crossed, anyway.
Or he could always just quick footy altogether and get a job as a psychic because, damn…
Up Next: Away to Togo-Port in the CAF Champs Lge on July 18 (NZT)
Rosie White – Chicago Red Stars (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Back in business, baby. Rosie White made her long awaited return from injury – and also her debut for new club Chicago Red Stars – as a 64th minute substitute in a game against Orlando Pride. Exactly what we’ve been waiting for after a couple weeks on the bench as an unused sub.
Looks like they coulda used her earlier though, the Red Stars were 2-0 down inside six minutes thanks to goals from Rachel Hill and Alex Morgan. Not the ideal start.
The Red Stars did have Aussie icon Sam Kerr, however. Following a great save to deny her in the 21st minute, she struck almost immediately after with Orlando unable to clear the danger. Kerr had another one early in the second half and we were locked at 2-2. But then Sydney Leroux went and scored twice within five minutes of Kerr’s equaliser and, bloody hell, it was now 4-2 to Orlando.
Rosie White came on straight after the fourth yet the only other goal in this one was an 83rd minute sealer for Dani Weatherholt. Orlando won it 5-2 and leapfrog Chicago on the table, dropping the Red Stars out of the top four. But at least Rosie White’s out there again.
Up Next: Away to Washington Spirit on Sunday at 7.30am (NZT)
Abby Erceg – North Carolina Courage (American National Women’s Soccer League)
No game on the weekend for NCC but that’s because they had a Wednesday night bout in Orlando. Definitely a banana-peel game going from away in New Jersey to away in Florida in the space of four days but you wouldn’t know it from the way they started, only the post and a ridiculous save keeping them from taking the early lead. But Jess McDonald eventually made the pressure count and it was 1-0 at HT.
Which was about when this game got absolutely mental. The Courage are usually extremely stingy at the back and don’t always make their dominance show in terms of the goals they score. Lots of 1-0s and the like. So nobody really expected the highest scoring game of the 2018 season so far. Chioma Ubogagu equalised in the 52nd minute, beating Abby Erceg and keeper Katelyn Rowland to the near post to sneak it in. Debora put NCC back up within minutes when she pounced on a loose ball in the box and then, five mins later, some excellent work from Crystal Dunn down the left set up Sam Mewis to make it 3-1, her header narrowly creeping off the post and over the line.
Yet just two minutes later Alanna Kennedy’s fantastic looping header made it 3-2. Goals coming from every angle. NCC kept it quiet for the next twenty minutes until Marta swung in a low cross to the far post for Rachel Hill to seemingly snatch a point in the 83rd minute. Nah, mate. Heaps of time left. Jess McDonald got her second in the last minute of the regulation ninety, an even loopier header that the defender made a mess of clearing (granted it was an awkward one). NCC winning a thriller 4-3 and they’re nine points clear at the top. Erceg picking up a very late yellow card to help make sure of it.
Up Next: Up against old rivals Portland Thorns, in Oregon, on Thursday at 2.30pm (NZT)
Rebekah Stott – Sky Blue FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
The injury that kept Stotty out last week wasn’t bad enough to limit her this time around as Sky Blue played twice, first away to Washington and then home to Seattle, Rebekah Stott playing the full 180 minutes across those two.
Ah but it was more of the same from the Sky Blue team, unfortunately. They missed a few chances in the first half against Washington and then went behind in the second half to an Ashley Hatch header from an Andi Sullivan free kick. Carli Loyd, easily SB’s most threatening player, almost levelled up right at the end but her header was saved. Sky Blue lose 1-0.
And then again, a 1-0 defeat to Seattle Reign, this time at home. Megan Rapinoe scored the only goal. Once more it was Lloyd who was the main attacking option for Sky Blue but she was denied her best chance by some more clever goalkeeping. Meanwhile at the other end it took a few heroics from Stotty to maintain the deadlock… how about this for a tackle!?
Nothing could be done about Rapinoe’s goal though, the USA international finding just enough space to stab home the winner with 63:55 on the clock. Worth mentioning that last bit because the goal they conceded against Washington came with 63:42 on the clock. Spooky.
Stott had herself a bit of a blinder here, clearing a late chance off the line while making another crucial tackle in the box to deny Jasmyne Spencer. But it was still a 1-0 defeat, a second 1-0 defeat in a matter of days and Sky Blue remain winless after eight games.
Elsewhere Katie Bowen was a 78th minute sub as her Utah Royals lost 2-0 away to the Portland Thorns, the third sub off the bench, in case you were wondering what’s up there. Bit annoying that she’s lost her starting spot this last month but there’s always Football Ferns duty to fall back on while she stays ready for Utah. Also, these two teams play each other next week.
Up Next: Sky Blue vs Utah Royals, Sunday at 11.00am (NZT)
Erin Nayler – Girondins Bordeaux (French Division 1 Féminine)
Season in the bag for Girondins, who finish seventh on the ladder out of 12. Only two points ahead of relegation yet their goal difference meant they always had the upper hand in that one. They played Lille in their final game, a team that needed at least a point to ensure their top flight status for another season, and it could’ve started a lot better for Nayler than conceding in the fourth minute. She’d already saved one from a long sighter but was beaten by Kenza Dali for the first goal.
Nayler was a relatively busy keeper in that first half although it wasn’t until the closing stages of the match that it really got frantic. Girondins equalised through Sophie Istillart with three minutes to go… only to then concede again almost straight away after the kickoff.
So a 2-1 defeat to end the campaign making it eight straight games without a win. Nayler started 18 games and kept five clean sheets. Some disappointment in the team’s form as the season dragged on but a great season for Erin, finally getting a run of games as the number one on the professional scene and proving why she deserved that chance.
Up Next: Get ready for the next one
Chris Wood – Burnley (English Premier League)
A couple things Woodsman related…
Up Next: Not much, aye
Stefan Marinovic – Vancouver Whitecaps (American Major League Soccer)
Certain benefits to being out injured, at least. Check out the ‘gram for those ones, they weren’t kidding about the dog either.
Meanwhile a Christian Techera hat-trick helped Vancouver come from 2-0 and 3-2 down to draw 3-3 with New England Revolution. One they should’ve won but at least they aren’t losing. That’s four scoring draws in a row. As for the injured goalie, we’re talking week to week. Probably won’t be back until around the time the World Cup starts (but we didn’t make it anyway so no dramas). Here’s the coach having a yarn about the Big Stef injury update…
Carl Robinson: “If he’s back in the next two or three weeks, then I’ll certainly be happy but there’s not an immediate return.”
Up Next: Saturday at 1pm, away to the old mates at Colorado Rapids (NZT)
Katie Rood – Juventus (Italian Serie A)
Olivia Chance – Everton (English Super League)
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