The World Cup is the glittering beacon on the horizon for any international side. For some it’s enough just to qualify and for others nothing short of winning it all will do. The Football Ferns are somewhere in between.
It was a bit of a shock when Marinovic was released from the Vancouver Whitecaps despite being the main starter for most of the season, but then a new manager and a squad overhaul is going to come with some casualties. So the question becomes: where to next?
Suburbs did that thing they usually do and scored early, taking the lead on nine minutes thanks to Callum McCowatt. Slotting into an open net after yet another assist from Eli Just, the Assist King of the NZ Premiership. I mean, who can even keep up with the bloke when he’s setting up a goal or two every bloody week?
For forty-five minutes that was a performance on par with the worst we’ve seen this season. Then for forty-five more it was a whole lot more of what we’re getting used to lately: the good stuff.
Old mate finally bagged another goal last Flying Kiwis, his first in a couple months, as Burnley found some form in beating West Ham. Chris Wood found some form too because he’s now scored in three games in a row. It began with a trip to Huddersfield and what was a pretty crucial game for two teams deep in that relegation scrap.
Where do you even start after a game like that? The Wellington Phoenix are now seven games undefeated, tying the club’s record streak, after beating Western Sydney Wanderers late on in Oz. In the dark days of old they’d have been turned over 3-0 in a game like that.
And we’re back. Everyone deserves a decent break over the holidays but all good things come to an end and now it’s time to return to the daily grind or whatever it is that makes up your day. Hopefully something creatively fulfilling and invigorating. With plenty of football.
The mystery has been solved and just like most mysteries the answer was the obvious one all along. What would Mark Rudan do with that extra import spot? The first thing that sprung to mind was a proper old centre forward.
It hasn’t been a fun time for Burnley fans, nor for Chris Wood recently. The festive season didn’t have a lot of festivity unless you were the team playing against the Clarets.
Jack-Henry Sinclair is one of the rising talents of the local footy scene, currently getting up and down the lines as a wingback for Team Wellington for whom he’s won the OFC Champions League and represented Aotearoa at the recent Club World Cup.
This wasn’t a case of catching them off guard. This was the Nix going to one of the best teams out there and matching them on their own turf. Put it simply, it might have only yielded one point but this was the best indication yet that Mark Rudan’s Phoenix team is for real.
‘Tis the season for gratitude and jollity. ‘Tis the season for celebration. ‘Tis the season for generosity. There was plenty of generosity from the Brisbane Roar last night which led to some Wellington Phoenix celebrations which led to all sorts of gratitude and jollity.
And here we are two months into that season and Burnsy is still without a goal. 1566 minutes of action for the Wellington Phoenix without hitting the back of the net. 1642 if you want to include the FFA Cup game. And it’s not like he ended his stint in Japan in the best form either or he wouldn’t have ended it at all.
Chelsea made it eleven clean sheets in a row against Spurs, scoring twice in the first twenty minutes and then bossing their way to a 5-0 win in the end. That’s cool but what’s cooler was that Ali Riley was given her second start as a Chelsea player in this one…
It’s games like Waitakere United versus Hamilton Wanderers that make the Premiership such a spectacle. Amazing goals and captivating drama… don’t even worry about anything else.
Louis Fenton and Sarpreet Singh scored the goals as the Nix won it 2-0. In truth the Mariners had their share of chances but the finishing wasn’t there and Filip Kurto, returning from that concussion absence last week, didn’t really have too many saves to make.
Tell you what, Team Wellington might have played up the underdog tag before their Club World Cup playoff with Al Ain, and it may have technically been their first ever competitive match against a professional club or against a club from another confederation, but they sure didn’t play like it.
Christmas came early for Mark Rudan, thanks to his very own Santa Claus in the form of Roy Krishna. The three goals he’s scored in the last two games, taking him past Paul Ifill as the club’s all-time top scorer and earning the club four valuable points, were great.
Riley came close to scoring her first goal for Chelsea too but it wasn’t quite to be. Still, just playing at all so soon after flying literally halfway around the world was one heck of an effort. 40 hours mate, that’s gutsy. And she’s not the only one on this list who did that either.
By this stage of the season the hierarchy has been pretty well set. We know which teams are expected to finish in the top three, we know which teams are battling for that fourth spot, we know which teams are playing for pride and experience and we know which team is the Wellington Phoenix reserves.