Flying Kiwis – August 11
Sarpreet Singh - Bayern Munich (German Bundesliga)
Yooo.... don’t panic. It’s only a loan deal, Singh popping up at FC Nürnberg in the second division in Germany for the upcoming season, just one more step up the ladder of success.
Competition for places at a club like Bayern Munich is ruthless and for all the progress that Singh made in his first season at the Bavarian club it wasn’t gonna do him much good to continue to sit on the bench all the time, or to bounce back and forth between the first team and the reserves. A loan out at this stage in his development is pretty normal service. This way he can get regular first team football at a level above where he was playing with the Bayern reserves last campaign and then return in ten months or whatever ready to compete for his place with the top side. Ideally a Bundesliga club might have come knocking although this way he may be at a lower standard but he’s more likely to be a first choice starter.
And he’ll have company too. Christian Früchtl, a 20 year old German youth international and the goalkeeper for the Bayern reserve team that won the 3.Bundesliga last time around, has also moved to FC Nürnberg on loan for 2020-21. Should be fun. Talk of a loan deal began about a week ago when Singh did a media opp for a few Kiwis and Aussie based journos and spoke with a bit of encouragement at the idea and it all progressed from there. Probably it was already in the works when Singh was left out of Bayern’s Champions League squad for the rest of that one (they cruised by Chelsea in the much-delayed R16 second leg and will face Barcelona in the quarters).
Hasan Salihamidžić, FCB Sporting Director: “Christian and Sarpreet were key figures for our Reserves in the third division and played their part in winning the league. What they need at their current stage is match practice at a higher level. 1. FC Nürnberg can offer them that in Bundesliga 2. I have no doubt that Christian and Sarpreet will break through and gain important experience. I’d like to thank [sporting director] Dieter Hecking for the good discussions.”
Singh will wear the number 8 on his jersey for FCN... who hold the record for having been relegated from the Bundesliga the most times in history. Nine relegations, the cheeky battlers. They were most recently in the top flight in 2018–19 but finished 16th in the second tier last time, only getting through a relegation playoff by virtue of away goals. Nürnberg was a powerhouse club back in the days between the World Wars and were again very strong in the 1960s. They’re actually second only to Bayern Munich in terms of overall league titles... though their last one came more than fifty years ago. Nürnberg did win the German Cup back in 2006-07 however. A club with plenty of heritage but one which has lost its way in recent times, you could say... cue the Sarpreet Singh inspired turnaround.
Dieter Hecking, FCN Sporting Director: “Sarpreet is a top talent who is at home in the attacking midfield. In addition to his first professional appearances, he was one of the outstanding players in the team of the third division champions. We hope that Sapreet will display his creative and technical potential with us.”
Sarpreet Singh: “The vision of Dieter Hecking and Robert Klauß immediately convinced me. I want to take the next step and do my part to ensure that this club has a successful season. I'm looking forward to the team and the first training session on Saturday.”
Up Next: Preseason starts pretty much immediately, the actual season starts mid-September
Bill Tuiloma – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
We’re into the crunch time of the MLS Is Back Tournament and the Portland Timbers took on Philadelphia Union in the first semi-final, with Bill Tuiloma sitting on the bench as he had in all the knockout games so far. Nothing unsurprising about that, just had to wait for the right situation to come on and step up.
This was probably Portland’s most complete performance yet at this tournament. They came out with a clear plan to attack through Sebastian Blanco cutting in from the wing and that bloke was a danger all night – in fact he’s in huge contention for the tournament MVP award. Blanco was the one whose shot won an early corner as it was tipped wide and it was from that corner that Jeremy Ebobisse headed in (slightly awkwardly) to put Portland up 1-0 in the 13th minute. And they kept on threatening after that too, a few shots from distance fired narrowly wide.
They did give Philly a lifeline in first half stoppage time when Seb Blanco got tangled up with an attacked and conceded a penalty but Sergio Santos blasted it over the top. Portland then picked up where they’d left off before the penalty with a few more threats at goal, particularly when they could win the ball in high areas, and just as you were starting to think they were being too wasteful they got that second banger. 70th minute – still no sign of Billy T by the way – and that bloke Blanco got what he deserved with a tap-in header at the far post from another Diego Valeri corner. This one was flicked on and Blanco was left unmarked. 2-0 to Portland with twenty remaining.
But there was life in this game yet. Philly had to really throw the kitchen sink at them now so while Portland were busy not subbing on Bill Tuiloma for defensive cover, they leaked one from a free kick as Steve Clark saved the initial attempt but Andrew Wooten tapped it home on the follow up in the 85th minute. A defensive sub came soon after but it was Pablo Bonilla who came on and just two minutes after that goal Philadelphia had the ball in the net again... however Kacper Przybyłko was ruled marginally offside and despite one angle in particular that seemed to suggest he might have actually timed his run perfectly the VAR decided it was close enough not to bother getting into the nitty gritty of the replays with. The MLS hangs on the ‘clear and obvious’ side of things with the video ref, which can be inconsistent but okay.
It was in the aftermath of all that when Bill Tuiloma finally made his bow, first action since the group stages for him. He replaced midfielder Diego Valeri and basically just supplied an extra body in the backline. Cue six minutes of injury time and first chance they got the Timbers took the ball to the corner. And when they didn’t have it they sat deep with numbers behind the ball. Even when they got the ball in the box one time nobody seemed to want to shoot... so the ball was laid back to Tuiloma who unleashed a rocket that was blocked by a defender and nobody wanted to listen to his claim of handball. It did hit the fella’s arm but it wasn’t in an unnatural position, to be fair. Philly had time for one last shot at the end but it was straight at the keeper and the final whistle followed immediately. Thus Portland advanced to the grand final.
Up Next: Portland Timbers vs Orlando City, 12.30pm on Wednesday, MLS Is Back Tournament Grand Final (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
But alas there’ll only be one New Zealander in the MLS Is Back Tournament Final. Boxall and Minnesota United gave it a good whack but they fell short in the semi-final as Orlando City rode a Nani-inspired performance to win that one.
The Portuguese hero made all the difference in the end. Take him out and it would have been an even game, instead Nani injected some magic into what had been a scrappy game. Boxall and Aja were playing really well at CB for Minnesota but there was nothing they could do ten mins before the half when Nani picked up a long ball on the left wing and his first touch was sublime to keep it in his stride and allow himself to finish past the keeper and in front of his marker. Then about five minutes later he brought another one down, this time on the edge of the area, and cut inside and curled it past the keeper from distance. A couple superb goals leaving Mike Boxall with his hands on his hips and his Minnesota team on the brink of elimination.
To be fair to them they made as much of a game of it as they could in the second half. The Loons were by far the more aggressive team from that point but the Orlando defence wouldn’t break and Minnesota weren’t really able to create clean shots at goal. Boxall did head one narrowly over with quarter of an hour to go. He also made a couple crucial definitive interventions. Minnesota finally did break through thanks to Mason Toye off the bench zipping in there in the 83rd minute but they still needed a second and they hadn’t left themselves much time to find it. Instead it was Orlando who scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time, a runaway goal finished off by Benji Michel to put Orlando through to the final in their own city. No James Musa appearance off the bench, once again an unused sub. At least they only have to wait two weeks before the regular season resumes now.
Up Next: Saturday 22 August at 11.30am vs Sporting Kansas City (NZT)
Ali Riley – FC Rosengård (Swedish Damallsvenskan)
Here’s one for ya, Ali Riley’s Rosengård won 9-1 this weekend. Their poor victims were IK Upsalla and to make matters worse for them they were actually 1-0 up thanks to an early goal. Probably thought the day was going rather well at that time. Probably thought they were a chance for a decent result. But then Jelena Canković scored twice in three minutes and next thing you know the game went from being 1-0 to Upsalla after 23 minutes to being 6-1 at half-time... six goals were scored in the space of fifteen minutes. It wasn’t even until the fifth of those goals that there was anything you’d blame the defence for, one was a deflection and the others were just well worked and well taken goals.
Ali Riley wasn’t on the park for all that. She’d be brought on in the second half after Rosengård won a penalty that’d make it 7-1. A 57th minute introduction for Riley. She came on at left back to enjoy what was remaining of the match, including a couple more goals (no involvement from Ali in those). Good for the ol’ goal difference, that’s for sure... although Rosengård remain two points behind Kopparbergs/Göteborg in second place on the table. Highlights of the massacre are viewable riiiigth here.
Up Next: Old mates from Linköping at 5am on Thursday (NZT)
Hannah Wilkinson – Djurgården IF (Swedish Damallsvenskan)
Not so much fun for this lot. Hannah Wilkinson was a 79th minute introduction off the bench as Djurgården fell 1-0 at home to KIF Örebro. Heidi Kollanen scored the only goal in the 16th minute, a quality strike but one which the Gardens really shoulda already cleared to safety. Djurgårdens had their chances but couldn’t put them away and as the second half took them towards defeat it was actually Örebro who came closest to scoring the next goal (including hitting the crossbar with ten minutes left). Highlights here.
Up Next: Away to Piteå at 5am on Thursday (NZT)
Jesse Edge & Matthew Conroy – IFK Berga (Swedish Division 1 Norra)
Not one but two kiwi signings for Swedish third tier club Berga. Jesse Edge is one of the great troubadours of Flying Kiwis. At 25 years old he’s already played in Italy, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Slovakia, and then the Netherlands again and now you can add Sweden to that list. Matty Conroy meanwhile is still only 19 years old and is coming off his first pro deal, playing for the academy team at Vejle in Denmark – the team that got promotion ahead of Nikko Boxall’s Viborg... although neither of those two blokes still play for those teams so it doesn’t really matter.
Now they link up at Berga, a team which could really use a bit of help as they currently sit bottom of the table in Division 1 North of the Swedish stuff... losing their first nine games of the season. They did win on the weekend, beating Karlslund 3-1 despite getting a second half red card. Neither of these fellas were there in time to participate in that one but the rise up the table begins now, no doubt about it. Apparently the rest of the squad is mostly guys all from the surrounding area so chuck a pair from Aotearoa in the mix and it should be fun.
Up Next: Berga vs Sollentuna, 4am on Thursday (NZT)
Joel Stevens & Francis De Vries – IFK Värnamo (Swedish Division 1 Södra)
IFK Berga plays on the north side of the division while these two blokes at Värnamo are in the southern side of the competition and not only are they opposite geographically but they’re opposites in results too as Värnamo have continued getting results after their quality start to the campaign and after ten games are already five points clear at the top of the ladder.
They won their fourth in a row with cruiser of a win over Qviding FIF, winning it 5-0 having blown it out of the water with three goals in the space of the opening twenty minutes. And who should have gotten them started but the man Joel Stevens with his first banger of the season...
Stevens has played in all ten games so far, coming off the bench once but starting all the others. He played on the right wing here and that was a sharp finish for his goal. Värnamo have begun to find their goal-scoring form of late so it was about time for Stevie to get amongst it.
Meanwhile shout out to Francis De Vries because as a defensive player he’s not gonna get the same spotlight but he’s started all ten games and it looked like he actually ended this game with the captain’s armband (and a yellow card). Didn’t have it to start but with all these subs, y’know. FDV missed a close one at the far post late on which could have gotten both kiwis on the scoresheet. No dramas. FDV got his clean sheet and Stevens finally got that goal. Get on them highlights.
Up Next: Skövde AIK vs Värnamo, 5am on Thursday (NZT)
Ryan De Vries – Sligo Rovers (League of Ireland Premier Division)
Another week and another win for Sligo Rovers who won 2-1 against Shelbourne. Their second win of the year and also their second win in a row. And while Ryan De Vries didn’t get a goal to show for it he put in an excellent shift by creating all sorts of mayhem before being subbed off to big applause from the few people that were allowed close enough to clap him off (woulda been nicer with a full stadium but the times don’t allow for that).
Most notable was his assist for the first goal. Sligo scored after just thirty seconds with De Vries getting the ball on the left and dashing into the box, beating one defender then cutting back and lifting in a lovely cross to get things started. Jesse Devers with the goal. David Cawley doubled that lead in the 51st minute and Shelbourne’s goal only came deep into second half stoppage time through Gary Deegan. De Vries’ pace and directness was a threat all game and on a luckier day he’d have grabbed a goal or another assist for the tally but all the same he’s making a decent little start to his time in the League of Ireland.
This was RDV’s third appearance for the club. He flew all the way from New Zealand to Ireland, played one game, flew all the way back when the pandemic arrived, then flew to Ireland again to pick up where he left off. The bummer of it all is that his family’s had to make the understandable decision that his wife and daughter would stay back in Aotearoa but that’s the life for pro athletes at the moment, so it goes.
RDV talking to the Irish Mirror: “It hasn’t been the ideal start for me, but you’ve no control over the pandemic as it’s hit the world so hard. I’ve a gym in the garage back home which was useful and New Zealand came out of lockdown fairly quickly compared to other countries so I trained with some clubs I used to play for. I got some one-on-one coaching and played a couple of friendlies to get minutes under my belt. It was hard when we didn’t have a date to work towards, so it was about staying focused and being ready when called. After a chat with Liam (Buckley), I started to get my bags ready, adding stuff in here and there and making sure I was ready when the time came. I got a call from my agent on a Wednesday and was told to make the most of one more day at home because I was flying on Friday. That was it! Drop and run, say your goodbyes and go just like that. But that’s the job.”
Up Next: Cork City vs Sligo Rovers on Saturday at 6.45am (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
Disappointing result here as Viking only drew with the bottom placed team Aalesund. Conceded in the sixth minute, scored twice to take the lead, then conceded again in the 80th minute from the penalty spot. Joe Bell had a shot from range while 1-0 down that stung the palms of the keeper and also picked up a very deserved yellow card late on when he caught a dude with a high boot. That point does at least keep Viking one point above the relegation playoff place.
Up Next: Monday at 4am vs Stabæk (NZT)
Vic Esson – Avaldsnes IL (Norwegian Toppserien)
Back at it with a 1-0 win. Elise Thorsnes scored the only goal in the 16th minute finishing smartly after Rasheedat Ajibaye had set her up. Olaug Tvedten picked up a second yellow and was dutifully marched in the second half but Avaldsnes held on for the win. You don’t get to see any Vic Esson saves in the not-so-generous thirty second highlights package there but she’ll be stoked with her second clean sheet of the 2020 season.
Up Next: Sunday at 3am versus LSK (NZT)
Nikko Boxall – SJK (Finnish Veikkausliiga)
Another 1-1 draw for SJK, this time against one of Nikko Boxall’s old club KuPS. The same team he played against in his SJK debut, they’ve faced off twice in three games. Both teams scored in the quarter of an hour after the half-time break, SJK levelling from the penalty spot. Full game for Boxall, no dramas.
Up Next: Ilves vs SJK, 2am this Sunday (NZT)
Matt Garbett – Falkenbergs FF (Swedish Allsvenskan)
Couple Falkenbergs games there for ya. Both games featured Matt Garbett coming on as a late substitute with his team chasing the game. Neither game featured a late goal which changed the outcome of the match. But still, Matty Garbs getting called upon in the crunch when his team were desperate.
Both games were quite frustrating from the team’s perspective though. Against Hammarby they were leading from the ninth minute right up until they conceded inside the final twenty mins, while against Malmö they were up against ten men for more than eighty minutes... but also trailed for most of that time after Malmö scored just two minutes after Kiese Thelin was sent off (for kicking out at a dude off the ball, bit soft tbf). Garbett did have one late chance to level in that Malmö game when the ball fell to him in the box but he slipped as he shot on the turn and it deflected out for a corner in traffic.
Up Next: Away to Elfsborg at 5am on Friday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)
Quick update on things as Ryan Thomas missed training this week due to injury. PSV are heavy into their preseason right now but Thommo missed the weekend’s friendly games having limped off the training pitch on Thursday. Not really what we wanna hear right now given his recent history but the new gaffer has been quick to douse any flames.
Roger Schmidt: “It does not look serious, if it is not 100 percent certain. The prognosis is now that he can probably train again next week.”
So that’s a relief. We don’t really know where Thommo is gonna feature for PSV this season. He ended up playing as a secondary striker last time around and impressed in that role despite being signed as a ball-playing midfielder but you get in where you fit in. Schmidt is fresh to that job but at the same time the pando has meant there hasn’t been bugger all transfer movement in or out of the club. We’ll see how it goes once he’s back at full capacity.
In the meantime...
Up Next: Plenty more friendly action between now and the new season
Rebekah Stott – Melbourne City (Australian W-League)
Woah there, how about this bargain? A signed Melbourne City jersey signed by the great Rebecca Stott and all proceeds go to charity... the auction closes tonight if you’re keen.
Up Next: Long time ‘til that next W-League season, dunno
The South African Premier Soccer League Fellas
Good news! The PSL is coming back this week. It’s been a long break amidst the pandemic and they’ve been talking about a resumption to the league for weeks and weeks and it’ll finally happen now. As far as health precautions go, we’ve just gotta trust that they know what they’re doing same as all these other leagues (tbh most of them are doing alright, even in places where the outbreaks are quite bad) but good yarns to have the footy back.
That means Dan Morgan for Maritzburg as they look to pick up where they left off with four wins on the trot prior to the lockdowns. In fifth place at the moment they’re still a great chance to get into the continental spots which would be pretty crazy. Morgan’s played in 17 outta 24 league games, a regular presence for a team playing very well this season. It also means Andre De Jong who has missed most of his first season as a pro with AmaZulu thanks to the foot injury he picked up on All Whites duty, however he’s been back ready to rock for a while now... poor bastard’s first game back was due to be the first game that got cancelled due to covid. That was all the way back in March so safe to say he’ll have been chomping at the bit. AmaZulu are currently second to last so they need a dose of ADJ to help them.
But Jeremy Brockie won’t be there. His contract ran down with Mamelodi Sundowns as they understandably declined their option on his final year and he was only on Maritzburg on loan. There’s no loan deal if there’s no parent club, right? And Maritzburg decided not to work out a new deal to keep Brockie until the end of the season which was also understandable given he didn’t really feature much for them. 12 games, seven of them starts, combining for 558 minutes and one goal. Plus a trio of goalless starts in cup competitions as well. Another frustrating season for Brocks but at least he’s free to decide his next destination now (and in the meantime has finally been able to head back to Aussie to be with his family after three and a half months apart – he’s been there for about five weeks now).
Here’s the Maritzburg situation, as reported on Kickoff.com a month ago...
Unnamed Maritzburg team source: “Sundowns obviously didn’t exercise their option on Jeremy’s contract, so the club had a meeting with Jeremy on Friday [last week] and allowed him to leave. There is still the youngster [Bongokuhle] Hlongwane coming through, the Zimbabwean [Clive Augusto] is raring to go, and there’s [Thabiso] Kutumela and Judas [Moseamedi] as well. So, the club is happy with their arsenal, both for the remainder of this season and next season, and have allowed Jeremy to return back home to be with his family under the further acceptance that he will not return next season.”
Up Next: AmaZulu vs Baroka on Saturday at 11.30pm & Black Leopards vs Maritzburg on Monday at 1.30pm (NZT)
The USL Crew
The MLS is almost at the end of their restart tournament thing and they’ll be back into the regular season stuff soon after that. Meanwhile the USL is churning along with less fanfare a step below that in their own revamped fashion and there are three kiwis who’ve been involved since we last updated these fellas.
First off is Sam Brotherton who continues to boss the way for North Carolina. He hasn’t missed a minute of their four games yet, the most recent of which being a 1-0 win over Memphis 901. Akeem Ward got the goal there late in the first half. A fair bit of defending required to get there but they closed it out.
Next up we’ve got fellow defender Hunter Ashworth who been in and out a little bit for Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Started the first two games, sat on the bench the next, started the fourth, then sat on the bench the next two times including being subbed on for the last six minutes in a 4-1 win over NY Red Bulls Reserves most recently. Pittsburgh are top of their group after six games, going pretty good.
We haven’t seen Oscar Ramsay for Charlotte Independence yet. He’s been on the bench for three outta four games but hasn’t featured yet. However we have of late had some Kyle Adams sightings back at Rio Grande Valley. His performances there the last couple years has elevated him into a Houston Dynamo contract at MLS level but he’s on the fringes of the squad there. Back in the shiny pre-pandemic days he therefore dropped down for a game with RGV in the USL at the start of that season, then came the postponements and all that... after which the MLS team went into a bubble but Houston didn’t make it out of their group and since then Adams has been able to link up with the Toros at USL level once again for their last two games. Both losses and they’re bottom of their group but it’s football for Kyle Adams. RGV lost 4-1 to Austin Bold this past game.
Up Next: More of all that
Chris Wood - Burnley FC (English Premier League)
Good on ya Woodsy. We already knew he was gonna win that one but still nice to log it in the books. Nick Pope (rightfully) won both the Player of the Season and the Players’ Player of the Season. Wood was also acknowledged for his 100th appearance for the club earlier this season. Meanwhile if you happened to stumble on that chat about him maybe possibly potentially definitely not being a target for Lazio... read our latest email dispatch which digs into all that. Some cross promotion for ya.
Up Next: Still waiting on a draw for next season
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