Flying Kiwis – August 14
Stefan Marinovic & Myer Bevan – Vancouver Whitecaps (American Major League Soccer)
It’s been a year since Stefan Marinovic made his debut for the Whitecaps, coming from the lower leagues in Germany and coming off a fine campaign at the Confederations Cup. Few would’ve guessed how quickly his rise would come a few months earlier… but then few who were familiar with him would have ruled it out either.
Big Stef: “I just put my head down and did my business and I got rewarded with a starting spot. You have to expect to play being number two and I’ve been number two before. I have been on both ends of the equation so I know how quickly it can change and I know how I should act in both positions.”
Busy week for Vancouver and a pretty dramatic one too. It started with the first leg of their Canadian Championship final against Toronto and despite some contentious refereeing calls they were able to keep themselves in it going into the away leg next time. Much better than it could’ve been when they were reduced to ten men in first half injury time. It was already 1-1 at that stage with Kei Kamara scoring first from the spot (following a dumb handball from Tosain Ricketts) but Jonathan Osorio soon tied it, beating Marinovic with a half-volley strike.
The red card looked quite harsh but the springs were up from Felipe. And yet the Caps were the better team despite the numerical disadvantage. They pushed for a winner and came close a couple times through Yordy Reyna before Erik Hurtado came off the bench to score in the 84th minute and VW were looking good for a famous win. Then Doneil Henry slipped one into his own net in the sixth minute of injury time for a 2-2 draw. Probably gotta win in Toronto now.
No reason they can’t do that after getting the three points against red hot Portland a few days later. Bloody marvellous game from Big Stef here. Only shame was that Bill Tuiloma was an unused sub. Jake Gleeson’s got a fair bit of confusion about his situation too. Seems he’s been dropped to the reserve roster, though the MLS roster rules are so ridiculously overcomplicated it’s not even worth trying to figure that out.
13 minutes in and Kei Kamara took advantage of some poor keeping (bring back Jake Gleeson!) to chip a bugger with a header from outside the box from a deep free kick – which should basically never be a goal but what do you know? Marinovic was then called up to face a penalty with five mins left in the half after a silly sliding challenge from one of his mates. Despite Marinovic diving the wrong way, Diego Valeri dragged it wide of the post. Christian Techera, the smallest man in the MLS, then made it 2-0 at the break and things got fun.
Marinovic on Valeri’s missed pen: “I psyched him out a little bit hopefully because he usually goes that way. I thought he might change it up a little bit, but he didn’t and he missed, so that was a good relief. I would have made our job a little bit harder.”
Big Stef against the Timbers and, well, let’s take a peek at a few highlights…
Valeri got another chance from the penalty spot with twenty minutes to play and this time Marinovic was stuck in mud as he stroked it into the bottom corner, same one as he missed last time. Lovely penalty but thanks to the kiwi fella with the gloves on they couldn’t fine the leveller. 15 matches unbeaten for the Timbers but now the streak’s been broken.
EightySix Forever Report Card: “Stefan Marinovic: 10/10 - There’s no getting past it, Marinovic robbed Portland of 3 points. He made eight saves many of which were quite difficult. His close range save on Alvas Powell and his free kick save on Diego Valeri stand out in particular. Marinovic also did a good job of keeping things calm while the Whitecaps were under immense pressure. There have been a few Whitecaps goalkeepers over the years who I could see crumbling under the pressure but Marinovic looked solid throughout.”
He even had a bit of a brouhaha with one of the Timbers players afterwards. Some words and a couple shoves exchanged, nothing drastic. Certainly nothing in his weight class.
Also another thing happened…
Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson: “Myer has shown potential since signing with us. He’s a hard working young player who already has international experience for his country. He will benefit from getting game time and he will be working with terrific coaches down in Fresno. We will keep a close eye on his progression.”
This makes sense, Bevan spent the first three months of the season on loan in Sweden at Husqvarna (alongside Joel Stevens) but hasn’t had too many chances since he returned, sitting on the bench for one Canadian Cup game and nothing else. So sending him to the USL to get some reps is good for both parties.
There has been a bit of a frustration with Vancouver going to the affiliate system and disbanding the VW2 side that Bevan spent time with last season as Fresno haven’t been nearly as generous with actually playing their loaned dudes but at least Cory Brown’s been playing games when fit and if Bevan’s a fringe MLS guy then he’s surely too good to ignore. Plus there are ramifications for the Whitecaps and their current roster with a playoff run a priority in 2018, meaning they need immediate contributors rather than project players. Having said that, the ‘Caps have the right to recall Myer at any time so score some USL goals and you never know how quickly things could happen.
Up Next: First up it’s away to Toronto in the second leg of the Canadian thing, that’s on Thursday at 11.30am, and then they’re at home to NY Red Bulls on Sunday at 11am (NZT)
Aimee Phillips – Cardiff Met WFC (Welsh Premier League)
All about those Champions League qualifiers this week for Aimee. Three games in a week with only the top team in the group advancing. First off was Olimpia Cluj and despite some sweltering conditions and a bit of a trip in getting to Ukraine, where group six was hosted, it was the Welsh side that struck the net first. 24th minute of the game and Aimee Phillips picks up the ball on the right wing, wearing the number seven, and her first touch takes her past one defender. Another comes sliding in and she cuts inside to beat her. She sends the cross in low and Naomi Clipston cleverly flicks the ball behind her standing leg at the near post to score.
That was the way it stayed until an hour in, though that’s not to say that Olimpia weren’t scrapping away. It’d taken a few sharp saves to deny them but then came a ten minute flurry that’d change the course of this game. A goal mouth scramble led to the equaliser before a bit of miscommunication between defender and goalie allowed the ball to fall to the feet of a striker to put OC up 2-1.
Then straight away it was 2-2. Not even seventy seconds later Liv Thompson had skinned her marker and swept in a cross to the far post, where Aimee Phillips was lurking, of course. She had enough time to take a controlling touch and then poke it past the keeper for a first Champions League goal. Unfortunately the moment was rather spoiled when OC scored what proved to be the winner soon after the resulting kick off and a late onslaught couldn’t earn Cardiff Met a point that they probably deserved.
Phillips’ goal is at 1:45:30 or so while her assist is at about 30:30…
Hopes of progressing then faded quickly against Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv, who hosted the qualifying group. Cardiff Met were down 2-0 after ten minutes and facing an enormous task to get back into it. Jessica Westhoff did her best, scoring a beauty from range after being fed the ball squad from Aimee Phillips, call it an assist if you want to (it’s about 24 mins in). Cardiff Met had another boost when Olha Ovdiychuk was set off in the 65th minute – seemingly booked for diving despite seeming to fall over injured and needing extended treatment, it was very weird – but they were already down 4-1 by then and it would end up as a 5-2 defeat.
So their third game was against Birkirkara and there was nothing on the line but pride. That one took place earlier this morning and featured another prominent Aimee Phillips performance out there on the right wing... but no goals or assists to show this time. Cardiff twice took the lead in the first half but were unable to grab a winner in the second, drawing 2-2 to finish their Champions League qualifiers with a draw and two defeats. Could easily have been a lot more though and they'll return to Wales with a good chance of defending their league title.
Up Next: Back to waiting for the league season to begin, which won’t be long
Chris Wood – Burnley (English Premier League)
Things got weird with Chris Wood this week. After coming off injured against Aberdeen, he was always going to be in doubt for the trip to Turkey in the next round of Europa League qualifiers and sure enough he didn’t even bother to get on the plane… but not for the reason we’d expected.
Sean Dyche: “Chris Wood's had to stay behind. He's got an infection, believe it or not, out of a bite and it's caused a reaction so he's had to get that taken care of.”
An infected bite? Did he get bitten by a dirty mossie? A mangy dog? A werewolf or a vampire perhaps? The mystery got even murkier when the man himself tweeted something about sitting in a hospital bed. Sounds like something a little more serious than an itchy bite, quite frankly.
The infection meant he missed a massively uneventful but very useful 0-0 draw in Istanbul against İstanbul Başakşehir which means a win at Turf Moor and they’ll be into the final qualifying round. Sean Dyche later clarified that Woody’s bite was a matter of an allergic reaction and that he expected him back in training once the team returned to England. Which was nice because there was the small matter of the Premier League season opener away to Southampton to deal with too.
The Woodsman did indeed start that one and he didn’t look like he was carrying any lingering effects. Within two minutes of kickoff he’d already flicked a soft header towards the goal and been pulled up for an offside. Burnley dominated the early stages of this one, utterly dominated. Jack Cork had a goal disallowed for offside while Jeff Hendrick shoulda put one away at the far post. Eventually the Saints figured out what formation they were playing and got a few things going but by then Burnley could’ve been two goals up.
They weren’t though, it was still 0-0 at the break after Woody had another tame effort saved. He almost got on the end of a Matt Lowton cross early in the second but a desperate block from the defender ended that dream. And as the second half went on it was Southampton who suddenly had the best looks. Ben Mee was saved the embarrassment of an own goal by a wonderful Ashley Westwood clearance off the line while Joe Hart made a couple nice stops and Nathan Redmond whacked a few strikes into stretched out defenders. It was still 0-0 after 73 minutes when Chris Wood was replaced by Sam Vokes. It was still 0-0 at the end of it. 5000m travelled in a week and not a goal to show for it… but a couple decent results.
Lancashire Telegraph Player Ratings: “Chris Wood 6 - Made some good channel runs and linked the play well while Burnley were on top, but couldn’t find the clear chance in front of goal”
Up Next: Burnley vs İstanbul Başakşehir, Friday at 6.45am and then Burnley vs Watford, Monday at 12.30am (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)
Up Next: Fortuna Sittard vs PSV Eindhoven, Sunday at 6.45am (NZT)
Marco Rojas – sc Heerenveen (Dutch Eredivisie)
Ryan Thomas getting transfered right on the eve of the Eredivisie season kicking off meant that he played no part for PEC Zwolle as they took on sc Heerenveen. He also played no part in PSV’s game a day later where they got things off to a flyer with a 4-0 win over Utrecht - Gaston Pereiro, Steven Bergwijn, Hirving Lozano and Denzel Dumfries getting the goals. Simple reason for that: the transfer was only an agreement between the clubs at that stage. They were still awaiting a medical, meaning he remained a PEC Zwolle player at the time. Maybe next week for Thommo, he’s already had his first training session on Monday Dutch time and should be presented on Tuesday evening NZT.
Funny timing because he’d done a chat with PEC’s video team previewing the game and they’d even asked him about playing Marco Rojas. Somebody in the media team wasn’t checking their emails when they asked him to do that. But cool to see some encouragement between Flying Kiwis. Check the last twenty seconds or so of this one…
No worries, Marco Rojas was out there doing his thing. Martin Ødegaard’s return to Real Madrid (he’s expected to go out on loan again, but not to SCH) has pushed most folks up a spot in the wide forward stakes at the club, including Rojas. Sam Lammers was signed to play centre forward (on loan from PSV, actually) while Arber Zeneli is a lock when fit on the left wing. Which meant Rojas was duking it out in preseason with Nemanja Mihajlović for the right wingers spot – two players signed for the club in the same week a little over a year ago.
Stink news is that Mihajlović won the battle. He was the one who started at RW for the opener against PEC Zwolle, with Rojas sitting on the bench. And it was an insane game as Mike van Duinen gave PEC the lead from the spot in the 28th minute but an eleven minute streak of chaos from Heerenveen and they went into the break up 3-1. Morten Thorsby got a double and Arber Zeneli added the third. SCH’s only three shots on target in a game in which they only had 30% of the ball.
Those numbers weren’t so bad in the first half but they got much worse in the second after Thorsby picked up a red card and MVD made it 3-2 from the spot with half an hour left. For the rest of this contest, Heerenveen were absolutely clinging to it. On came Marco Rojas to replace Zeneli for the last 24 minutes and he mostly just had to run around and not make mistakes, job completed (he only touched the ball just 10 times). Heerenveen kick it off with a hectic 3-2 win and new gaffer Jan Olde Riekerink ought to be a happy man about that.
Old mate in the middle at the back here…
Up Next: 2.45am on Monday at home against Vitesse (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Still with a chance to get something from this season, Minnesota needed to drastically fix up their away form which has seen them wait since March 10 to get even a pesky draw, let alone a victory. Seven straight away defeats and here they were up against LA Galaxy way down in California… Mike Boxall marking Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Hollywood, baby.
That’s no easy task and Zlatan made things tough for Boxall. Drew a free kick or two and generally acted like a pest, refusing to be intimidated. And the Galaxy began pretty well around him. Roman Alessandrini popped one into the net from distance in the seventh minute and they sure enough deserved it. Minnesota were scrappy enough to hang in there at 1-0 but the cards were starting to pile up. However LAG got a tad too relaxed with the narrow lead and in the 64th minute they were finally made to pay for it… step up Michael Boxall.
Yup, a first MLS goal for Mike Boxall in his 54th game in the top flight of American ‘soccer’. Lovely little glancing header too. Sebastian Lletget ensured that the scores were only level for ten minutes but then Romario Ibarra tied it up again in the 84th. Francisco Calvo got himself a dumb red card with a minute to play (throwing the ball away to waste time and getting a second yellow) but the Loons held on for a 2-2 draw. Crazy game in the end but a great point.
And one more for the warm fuzzies…
Up Next: Away to FC Dallas, Sunday at 12pm (NZT)
Hannah Wilkinson & CJ Bott – Vittsjö GIK (Swedish Damallsvenskan)
Exactly what Vittsjö needed, another win. They were playing the bottom team on the ladder, Kalmar, so this was a game they had to have been targeting… and the lasses did the business. 3-0 with goals to Clara Markstedt, Michelle De Jongh and Emma Lunhd. Both kiwis were named to start with CJ Bott playing the full contest at the back while Wilkie was replaced with a minute to go. And, check out the highlights, Bott had a bit to do in the set up for both goals. Sweet as. The highlights only show the first two goals though because the rain came and delayed the game for an hour in there somewhere, apparently.
The only thing missing was a Wilkinson goal (she did hit the post early on) but since so many of these kiwi footy players are such talented and well-rounded individuals (especially the women, tbh), here’s a bonus treat instead…
Up Next: Home vs Pitea on Monday at 12am (NZT)
Tyler Boyd – Vitória de Guimarães (Portuguese Primeira Liga)
There you go. If you’ve been following FKs for the last few weeks then you’ll not be surprised to hear that his impressive preseason did indeed get Tyler into the real stuff for Vitória. Named to start on the right wing for their opening game of the season, away to Benfica.
Deep in the first half and Boyd had an extraordinary chance to score, remember Benfica are the team he played his best game of the season against last time with Tondela, which would have tied the game at 1-1… but his attempt following up on a parried save came back off the inside of the post. Gutted. Of course, by then Benfica had already scored once through Pizzi and then also missed a penalty. Pizzi wasn’t done with one either, the midfielder then capped off a memorable one by adding two more for a hat-trick – a fine enough feat for a striker but even more mental for a midfielder who only scored six goals in all of last season and now he’s halfway there after a mere 45 minutes.
Something close to a worst case scenario for Vitória to begin their new season then. But they didn’t phone it in, Tyler Boyd spinning past a defender and unleashing a shot that was well saved. A little more luck and this could’ve been a dream performance from him. Instead he had to settle for a 58th minute yellow card.
But Vitória kept coming and André pulled one back with a tad too much room in the box and a quarter of an hour remaining, before five minutes later Guillermo Celis made it 3-2. That was the way it finished, a first up defeat, but there was more than enough there to believe that A) VSC are going to be a decent team to watch and B) Tyler Boyd knows exactly what he’s doing at this level. Fritz, mate. Get him in the team WhatsApp group already!
Up Next: VSC vs Feirense, Tuesday 21 Aug at 7.15am (NZT)
Abby Erceg – North Carolina Courage (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Already guaranteed top spot in the comp heading into the semis, that isn’t likely to slow the Courage down over their last few games as they seek to keep up momentum. But they did drop a couple points with a 1-1 draw in Chicago against the Red Stars this week.
It’d been nearly three weeks without a game for the Red Stars and 22 minutes in they fell behind thanks to Debinha. That’s NCC for ya. And with their defensive record they tend to win when they get a lead (13 wins and 2 draws with 0 losses when scoring first this season). Yet Chicago held them out until the second half and then got better and better as it went on, turning this into a very entertaining finish. Abby Erceg bossing the show as usual… except for when Sam Kerr went and equalised. Which really ramped things up as both teams pushed for a late winner that wasn’t to be. Chicago even came to the party by chucking Rosie White on as a late sub, cheers Chicago.
A 1-1 draw was probably fair. Doesn’t do NCC any damage obviously while Chicago get a slight boost in their playoff hunt with a point against the shield winners. The Courage can still break the NWSL record for wins in a season with two Ws in their final three games. They’re also five points short of the league record and need seven goals to break that record too.
Up Next: Sunday at 11am against Orlando Pride (NZT)
Rebekah Stott – Sky Blue FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Poor old Sky Blue are still without a win this season after going down 2-1 to Houston Dynamo late on this weekend. Might have been a different story if Carli Lloyd had been available but so it goes. That’s why you don’t go conceding late penalties for handballs and getting sent off in the process.
Speaking of being available, Rebakah Stott hasn’t started a game since the start of June thanks to injury but she’s been back on the bench for the last five or so games – when your team is winless you tend not to be afraid of mixing things up with some rotation. Finally, she got back on the field in this one. Not the best circumstances as she was a 36th minute replacement for an injured Christina Gibbons, who started at right back, however we were starting to get desperate over here in Flying Kiwis so any means necessary will do, sorry Christina.
Stotty entered a game in which her team already trailed to Rachel Daly goal but Madison Tiernan equalised in the second half, following up on a rebounded save. However in the 73rd minute Raquel Rodriguez was whistled for a handball in the box and Daly buried the spottie for the 2-1 Houston win. Damn.
Up Next: Sky Blue vs Utah Royals, Sunday at 10.30am (NZT)
Jeremy Brockie – Mamelodi Sundowns (South African Premier Soccer League)
Two games but still no goal. But it ain’t all about the bangers, Brockie’s getting regular games now and contributing to Sundowns wins – 68 minutes in a 2-0 win over Polowane City in the league and then 80 minutes in a 2-0 win over Golden Arrows in the MTN8 quarters.
He was particularly involved in the first goal vs Golden Arrows, a nice passing move with the ball linking between a number of attackers. At times like that they showed glimpses of what they’re capable of but this early in the season, with a few new signings getting eased in, they’re not quite there yet. As dudes get accustomed around him, so will Jerry himself. And it’s not like they’ve got any shortage of games with all the competitions they’ve playing in at the moment.
Soccer Laduma Best & Worst vs Golden Arrows: “Jeremy Brockie: 7/10 - The big attacker was the target man for Sundowns upfront and often used his strength to hold up the ball which allowed his teammates to play around him. He showed good skill when on the ball and had a few shots on goal which were well-saved or were just off target. He was also a danger in the air when crosses came into the box.”
Up Next: Away to WAC Casablanca in the CAF Champs League, Saturday at 6am (NZT)
Katie Bowen – Utah Royals (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Double trouble for the Royals this week with a Wednesday night game followed by a Saturday one and the chance to stretch what’s been a return to form in the last month. Washington Spirit were first, a game the Royals should win if they’re serious about making those semis. And they did. Katie Stengel got the winning goal in the 74th minute after a clever dummy from Diana Matheson in the lead-up. Washington are kinda awful going forward – they’ve literally only scored one goal in their last ten games and have lost seven in a row now. But they’re not the worst defensively so an important goal for an important win. Only issue was that Katie Bowen was an unused sub.
She was back in at right-back when Seattle Reign came to town but this one went the other way. Two teams battling for the playoffs and it was second-placed Seattle who won it with Jess Fishlock’s 48th minute goal. Close game but Utah couldn’t manage that equaliser. The good news is that while their next two games are away, they’re also against the two bottom teams. Then they host Chicago in their regular season closer. Might need to win all three to make it.
Up Next: Sky Blue vs Utah Royals, Sunday at 10.30am (NZT)
Tommy Smith – Colorado Rapids (American Major League Soccer)
Tommy Smith was always a belter from a set piece back in his Ipswich days. Didn’t score a lot of goals but he had a habit of bagging some important ones along the way and he was always a threat in the air. Stepping over the pond to the MLS, that’s only been multiplied. Case and point, here’s another one of his increasingly common headed goals…
As for the celebration, ah, tell you what… the moves aren’t anything special but… they’re not the worst. He’s clearly been practicing. Good on ya, Smithy.
This was at home to San Jose Earthquakes, the former club of Kip Colvey. But Kippy hasn’t been seen since he was concussed in a cup game, though he’s not necessarily a lock for match day squads so he might be all good now and just not getting picked. Hope so. As for Deklan Wynne, he played every game for so long but now he’s basically a guaranteed bench player – hey, he’s already played more minutes this season than he had any reason to expect when he was traded to Anthony Hudson’s team.
The Rapids were good value for their lead at half-time but a murky penalty call meant we were tied up at 1-1 an hour into it. That felt like the way it was going to be until Shea Salinas got a straight red for San Jose with a couple minutes left and the Rapids rallied to win it 2-1 thanks to some monster drama from Nana Boateng – the winner coming in the third minute of stoppage time. No doubt exactly how Uncle Tony planned it.
Up Next: LA Galaxy vs Colorado Rapids, Wednesday at 2.30pm (NZT)
Betsy Hassett - KR Reykjavik (Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna)
Been a while since Betsy last got a mention here. Iceland’s pretty far away and all. But her KR Reykjavik side have come into some proper form lately and not a moment too soon. A month ago they were lingering in serious relegation threat. They still are under relegation threat but following three wins in four games they’re now three points clear of the drop zone with five games still to play. A 2-1 win over Thor/KA was the latest, coming a few days after beating FH 5-1 – with Hassett getting her first goal of the season in that one.
Great reward, as Betsy Hassett is one of only two players in the KR side to have played every league minute so far this season, starting and finishing all 13 games. Serbian international Tijana Krstić is the other. Betsy is number 10 in this photo, in case you were trying to figure it out.
Up Next: Away to Breidablik at 6am on Weds 22 August (NZT)
Kirsty Yallop – Klepp IL (Norwegian Toppserien)
Similarly, can’t go on ignoring Kirsty Yallop when Klepp are having such a fantastic season. They were fourth last time and with eight games left in this term they’re nine points off top with a five point buffer between themselves in second and the third place team. Still in the cup competition as well with their quarter-final against Kolbotn coming up in a couple Wednesdays’ time. They’ve won five games in a row in all comps and kept clean sheets in four of those.
Nearly two-thirds through the season, Yallop’s missed just three minutes of footy. Started every game (as have five others – consistency of selection being a bit of a secret to their success) and scored a couple goals to boot. Top work from the 104-game retired Footy Fern midfielder. Hey but she’s not the only kiwi at Klepp, they’re actually managed by Olli Harder too, who has been the head coach since January 2017, having served as an assistant prior to that. Interested in his story? Here it is in Olli’s own words…
Olli Harder: “I have been coaching for 15 years, and started my coaching career in New Zealand before moving to the US. In the States, I worked for five years in youth development, directing, coaching and as an assistant with both the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Maestro Soccer Academy. I then moved to England and operated in various roles, before heading to China and taking a job as Football Development Officer for the largest club in Beijing: Club Football China. Upon completion of this role I moved back to the US and took the position of Assistant Coach with the Yale University men’s outfit. I then moved to Norway and worked as First Team Coach with Toppserien side Amazon Grimstad. This season I am Assistant Coach and Head of Football Development at Klepp IL.”
Up Next: Lyn vs Klepp, 1am on Sunday (NZT)
James McGarry & Michael Woud – Willem II (Dutch Eredivisie)
Jimmy McG only ever played 15 minutes for the Wellington Phoenix, despite often looking like the guy in the reserves most ready for the rigours of senior football. Never fear because he left for a brighter stage and straight away made his Eredivisie debut at the first opportunity. McGarry was named to start at left-wing in Willem II’s match against VVV-Venlo and played 62 minutes before being replaced. Michael Woud was also on the bench.
They lost. But they lost controversially, Danny Post scoring for VVV after twenty minutes with a dead-set ripper. Fran Sol then seemed to have equalised with twenty left to play… only for the VAR to disallow the goal for a handball. It was the first time the Video Assistant Referee had ever been called into use to alter a decision in a Dutch top division game. Fair call and all but, yeah, people like to make a big deal about the VAR. Willem II had way more possession, more than twice as many shots and more than double the completed passes but that was as close as they could get to a goal. VVV won it 1-0.
McGarry’s rise seems like a funky one given how quickly opportunities have come here and how long he had to wait for mere scraps at the Nix, but football’s a bit like that. Willem II signed the dude up at a time when they had zero other specialist left-backs in the squad. Although that’s not where he played here, instead deployed further forward in a surprise move – albeit one the manager Adrie Koster had hinted at before the game. McGarry’s passing numbers were way down, probably a sign of needing to adapt to the quicker pace, but he did manage to pop a couple shots off. When he was replaced it was for another attacking option with the team chasing a leveller. Woud, meanwhile, was signed specifically to be a backup keeper so his chances will be more limited.
Up Next: Groningen vs Willem II, 6am on Saturday (NZT)
Michael den Heijer - NEC Nijmegen (Dutch Eerste Division)
Unfortunately Mike’s been dealing with a back injury since the first week of preseason training and is going for scans on that now to see how long he’s likely to miss. MDH is in the second year of the two year contract he signed in 2017, though he spent basically all of last season as an unused sub as NEC fell short of bouncing straight back up into the Eredivisie. Chances should be more forthcoming this term but we’ll have to see how back the back is first.
Up Next: NEC vs Cambuur, Saturday at 6am (NZT)
Elliot Collier – Chicago Fire (American Major League Soccer)
Make that Elliot Collier – Indy Eleven then. Not that this came as any shock, he’d been listed as being out on loan on the official roster for a couple weeks now, meaning he missed the 1-0 defeat to NY Red Bulls that made it seven MLS defeats in a row and also the US Open Cup semi against Philadelphia Union which ended as a 3-0 defeat. Times are rough for the Fire and the playoffs are all but gone now. So in the meantime while a roster which has been getting constantly revamped along the way in an attempt to fix things try to salvage a miracle, a couple of their rookies have gone out on loan to make sure they get some games in over the rest of 2018.
Campos was a second round pick and Collier a third rounder at the start of the year. Each has played plenty in their rookie MLS seasons but both have only scored one MLS goal so far. Specifically, in the case of EC…
“Collier, a Fire PDL product, was selected in the third round (49th overall) of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft after appearing in 69 games for Loyola University Chicago, where he scored 15 goals and tallied 11 assists. The Hamilton, New Zealand native has one goal and one assist in 16 league appearances this season, and also tallied one goal in one Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match.”
Indy Eleven are another USL club, meaning another kiwi in that league. They didn’t have a game this week and are well placed to challenge for the playoffs. Here we go, then.
Indy Eleven head coach Martin Rennie: “We’re excited to have Elliot and Diego be available for us. They've both done very well in their rookie year so far with Chicago. They're exciting attacking players who have good quickness and good ability to beat people moving forward. They're a threat in the box, as well.”
Up Next: Indy Eleven vs North Carolina, Thursday at 11am (NZT)
The USL Crew
James Musa (Phoenix Rising) – Served a suspension for yellow card accumulation and they kinda needed him out there, Phoenix blowing a hat-trick from Solomon Asante to lose 4-3 at home to Orange County. The Moose will be back next game.
Kyle Adams (Rio Grande Valley) – An unused sub as RGV scored in the first minute but went on to lose 2-1 to Sacramento, shout out to Simon Elliott.
Cory Brown & Myer Bevan (Fresno FC) – A Thursday night game in the States was too early for Myer Bevan to take any part with his loan but Cory Brown played the full thing at left-back in a 2-1 defeat away to LA Galaxy 2.
Monty Patterson (Oklahoma City Energy) – Go on and get it, amigo. First goal for the Energy and it was an 83rd minute winner, the difference in a 3-2 win over Real Monarchs. The Python started on the bench and was introduced six minutes before he scored. It was his second appearance, having also been an unused sub once else.
The Trial Files
Just as the seasons are kicking off, it seemed as though the kiwi trialists had all had their immediate futures sorted one way or another. But now we’ve got two more fellas about to attempt to join the Flying Kiwis brigade: Callum McCowatt and Eli Just.
Just had a trial last season with PEC Zwolle and it sounded like he’d impressed a few folks, although he returned to Aotearoa to wreak havoc upon the Central League for Western Suburbs alongside his mate McCowatt, who famously scored the winner for Auckland City in the last NZ Premiership. Now Elijah Just is off to Werder Bremen where he’ll have some kiwi company with Trevor Zwetsloot, currently away with the NZ U20s, is a regular for the youth team. It’s anticipated that he’ll be back in NZ for the Premiership though, so probably more a development thing like his last trial.
McCowatt, on the other hand, is about to spend three months with Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch second division and based on the success rate of kiwis in that country lately you’d give him a high chance of staying longer. Nothing official out of Germany or Holland yet to sink the teeth into yet but if there is then Flying Kiwis will have you covered.
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