Hannah Wilkinson – Djurgården IF (Swedish Damallsvenskan)

There you go, back in the pool and straight in at the deep end. Hannah Wilkinson spent last season in Portugal with Sporting CP but cut that time short after a heap of goals as the pando struck and she’s been working hard in beautiful Northland ever since. She recently mentioned on a TVNZ thing that she was close to announcing her next move. Now here it is: returning to Sweden where she previously played for two years with Vittsjö (and also where her partner is from). Between that familiarity with the league and the form she found with Sporting it’s a pretty exciting development.

Djurgården had a tough time of it in 2019. They only avoided relegation thanks to superior goal difference so goals, winning only four of their 22 matches. The league in Sweden starts at the end of this month but they did get one game of league cup action in back in February before it all went down and in that game Danish striker Maria Hovmark went down with an ACL injury so they’d been in the market for a replacement striker ever since and here we go, they’ve got one.

Hannah Wilkinson: “It’ll be very fun to play for Djurgården. I know it’s a strong and well-known club with a lot of tradition. Plus it is a team from Stockholm which is an interesting environment for me. So I look forward to getting started. I played in Vittsjö for two years so I have played against Djurgården a number of times and I have good knowledge of the level in Damallsvenskan. I haven't been able to fully understand what kind of football [Djurgården] are going to play. But in general, I think the Swedish style of play suits me well where there are often intense and physical matches. I look forward to meeting the coach team and getting to know the team to start training and getting into the game as soon as possible.”

DIF sporting director Jean Balawo: “As I said, there have been no secrets that we have been looking for a replacement for injured Maria and just like in the past, we are looking a lot at the character. In addition to Hannah being brutal and reckless in the penalty area, whether the ball is in the air or on the ground, she is also good in depth. With Hannah in the team, we get a bigger variation in our attacking game where, in addition to the depth game, which we already have in house, we can now also hit the ball on posts and fast and that means we can vary the game even more.”

The only issue is getting there. Travel’s still a tricky issue but hopefully there’ll be the right combination of flights to get Wilkie where she needs to be before the end of the month and in time to contribute as quickly as possible. With CJ Bott transferring to Norway (Vålerenga), Wilkie will be the only kiwi in the Swedish women’s top division this year, as it stands, but she will keep up the fine tradition of Flying Kiwis representation in that league which goes back to when Ali Riley first moved there.

Up Next: First game of the season is on Sunday 28 June at 1am away to Uppsala (NZT)

Sarpreet Singh - Bayern Munich (German Bundesliga)

This was one of those annoying weeks where Sarpreet got stuck in between in that limbo of too good for the reserves but not good enough for the seniors. There were three opportunities for him to play and he didn’t get offered any of them. First was a reserves game on Wednesday NZT which he wasn’t around for. They won 2-0 without him, Jamal Musiala scoring twice off the bench in the final quarter of an hour, to keep up their hot streak of results since things returned.

But that was a good thing, it meant he was a better chance to play in the DFB-Cup semi-final the next day where Bayern Munich took on Eintracht Frankfurt. It wasn’t Bayern at their best, though they took the lead early through Ivan Perisic and when EF did get a deserved equaliser midway through the second half they struck back within five minutes through Robert Lewandowski to advance to the final where they’ll face Bayer Leverkusen. Sarpreet Singh was an unused sub.

Which was cool too because they were always gonna be a bit more rigid in a cup semi-final and it was always the league game on the weekend against Borussia Monchengladbach which was the one to watch. Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski were both out suspended along with a few other injuries in the squad and Singh had already been on the bench for a few games prior and knocking at the door.

But nah, not to be. Bayern laid down another mixed bag performance, with moments of brilliance but also a bit of sloppiness, particularly in attack which is probably to be expected missing their two senior forwards. Joshua Zirkzee and Michael Cuisance got the starts in those roles, both guys who have spent some time with the reserves this season. Zirkzee scored the opener after a goalkeeping error but Benjamin Pavard put one into his own net in the 37th minute. That left them chasing the game until Pavard set up Leon Goretzka’s 86th minute winner and with that Bayern have pretty much wrapped up the title, even with Dortmund getting a late winner of their own earlier in the round. One more win from their final three matches, or a Dortmund defeat, will do the trick. And with the Champions League to return later on and a cup final on the way there’s a legit treble in the making if they can maintain this form.

You’d have thought with a sub up their sleeve a late cameo from Singh might have wasted a bit of time but alas, no digs. It just goes to show you how intensely competitive a squad like like this can be. There are no free minutes at a powerhouse club like this. Ghanaian international Kwasi Okyere Wreidt has scored 67 goals in the last three years for the reserves and his 13-minute appearance here was his first Bundesliga appearance for two and a half years – funny coincidence is he’s already agreed to leave and join Michael Woud at Willem II in the Netherlands next season. Perhaps Singh will get his chance after the title is already wrapped up. Even if he doesn’t, gotta say he’s already ahead of the pacemaker in this race just to be where he is so soon... remember he was only signed on a reserve team deal. There was also another reserve team game the day after the M’gladbach match but it was away and none of the lads from that first team squad partook... BM2 won 3-2 against Waldhof Mannheim and are now in second place with six games left. Neither the first team or reserves have lost since football came back.

Up Next: Werder Bremen vs Bayern Munich, 6.30am on Wednesday (NZT)

Meikayla Moore – MSV Duisburg (German Bundesliga)

Well that’s no good. Claire O’Riordan was sent off in the 19th minute for dragging down an attacker as the last defender and they were already 1-0 down by then anyway after Sjoeke Nüsken had headed in from a corner kick six minutes earlier. File that away under terrible starts to football matches. Down to ten women, they conceded again from a brilliant Tanja Pawollek free kick to be 2-0 down at the but then hung around pretty bravely for most of the second half until conceding three times in the final five minutes, also scoring one of their own in the middle to briefly make it 3-1. But 5-1 was the final score, the last three goals all involving Meikayla Moore, back in the defensive line this time, chasing desperately as the closest defender to try and prevent them.

Frankfurt are pretty good, they’re fourth on the ladder. Those results happen. The problem for the Zebras is that within the previous week of games FC Köln had picked up consecutive 1-0 victories, both from goals in the final ten minutes of games (90th min vs SGS Essen, 82nd min vs bottom placed USV Jena). Combined with consecutive defeats for Duisburg that drops the Zebras back into the relegation zone. The good news for them is that two days later Köln were pumped 6-1 by Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen also lost 5-1 to Turbine Potsdam which means that Duisburg don’t lose any ground on goal difference and all three of those teams are now separated by just one point with three games each remaining and one of the trio destined to join USV Jena in relegation. Leverkusen plays Jena next, Duisburg’s final match is against Jena. Absolute must-wins for both.

Up Next: Hoffenheim vs MSV Duisburg on Thursday morning at 2am (NZT)

Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)

Get that into ya, some wholesome content for a Tuesday morning. The story there is that PSV have this PSV OldStars team which compete in an over-60s league for walking football. But, you know, obviously the over-60s league isn’t in action right now so the OldStars have been doing the zoom meeting thing for virtual training sessions and workout regimes with the PSV trainer getting involved too. And Ryan Thomas stepped in to say g’day last week and help out. What a lad. The old fella with the Billy Connolly looking moustache at the start, he’s a 70 year old ex-cop named Wim who suffers from PTSD and has used the walking footy to help cope with it all.

Speaking of moustaches, by the way...

SLUG.

Up Next: Just waiting on next season...

Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)

Shot Joe. Got himself a goal in a 5-0 win over Sandnes Ulf last week in their final friendly match before the belated season finally kicks off. It was a bit of a reserve team in fairness, giving the fringe dudes one last chance to push their case, and Bell started in the middle of a 4-3-3. His goal came in the 68th minute, slipped through in behind the defence and he did the rest himself for his first (albeit non-competitive) goal for the club. It was also the opponents’ first match since the pandemic started as the first division clubs have taken longer than the Eliteserien to get back into the swing so that’s a bit of extra perspective. But a good performance, especially in the second half (it was 1-0 at HT, 5-0 by 70 mins... that lack of fitness for Sandnes Ulf really showing). Now we wait a day to see what role Joe Bell gets to play in the real stuff. All indications seem to be that he’ll be a bench player as he seeks to work his way into the mix in his first season as a pro.

Viking are in an interesting place. They were only promoted back to the top flight after being relegated in 2018 (following 29 consecutive season in the top flight, and they bounced immediately back up). But they did so bloody well upon return to the topskees that they won the Norwegian Cup and finished fifth, good enough to get some deep Europa League qualifying entry for whatever that’ll eventually look like. They’ve lost a couple key midfielders with young gun Kristian Thorstvedt (who was the club’s top scorer in 2019) having moved to Genk while Samúel Friðjónsson’s was only there on loan but Joe Bell isn’t the only midfielder they’ve bought to replace them. He is a bit of an odd transfer though. They fell in love with him at the U20 World Cup and kept a line on him throughout his final college season, even after he rebuffed their initial attempt to sign him prior to that, and he’s the only non-European in a squad build predominantly from local players with a couple Kosovans and an Icelander in there too. The feeling around Norway is that they’re batting for mid-table, probably not having made the improvements needed to push for the top few places and instead hoping to consolidate what they did last time.

Also in Norway, the women’s top flight will begin in the first week of July although CJ Bott has confirmed that she’ll miss at least the first two months of that as she continues to recover from knee surgery a little while back. Had to take care of something with the ol’ meniscus. Bott signed for Vålerenga, one of the two dominant forces in the Norwegian league at the moment along with LSK, earlier this year but it seems it’ll be a while yet before she gets to play for them. Rebekah Stott and Vic Esson both played for Avaldsnes last year too, we’ll see if they pop up again soon. Stott spent lockdown in Melbourne after the W-League season however Esson is still listed on the NFF’s squad list.

Up Next: Viking vs Bodø / Glimt, 4am on Wednesday (NZT)

Matt Garbett – Falkenbergs FF (Swedish Allsvenskan)

Count that as an Allsvenskan debut for Matty G. His first league appearance for FFF after two league cup subs apps before the pando. Garbett, wearing 14, was one of two 88th minute introductions in a 1-1 draw with BK Häcken, both goals scored in the first half. Seems like FFF had the better of the chances (particularly in the first half) but weren’t able to capitalise with the game gaining more fluency as it went along. A decent point on the board to start the season though and another milestone in the young career of Matty Garbett. Cannot confirm if there were any Everton or Manchester City scouts tuned in to the livestream however, sorry.

Also, we chatted a little about Matt Garbett and the transfer yarns from last week on TNC’s podcast recently, have a listen and do the subscribe and rate and review and all those things too, big churs.

Up Next: 5am on Friday away to Mjällby (NZT)

Joel Stevens & Francis De Vries – IFK Värnamo (Swedish Division 1 Södra)

Quick off the mark were Värnamo, who grabbed a 1-0 win at home against Motala in their season opener in the Swedish third tier. A first half goal from Charlie Vindehall was all it took. What’s more is that both Joel Stevens and Francis De Vries both got starts, lovely to see. FDV picked up a yellow card for his efforts. Interesting to see they also had two Brazilians in the team, as well as a Belarusian goalie and a forward from Sierra Leone. Only five Swedes in the eleven. The word from the coach was that they were pretty dominant despite only getting the one goal so all in all a quality start to the season.

Up Next: The Varnies are away to Trollhättan at 5am on Thursday (NZT)

The MLS Fellas

It’s now confirmed that the “World Cup style” tournament in Orlando will take place, beginning on 8 July in the USA. It’ll run for about five weeks out of, wait for this... the “ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida”. Sponsorship galore, aye? All 26 clubs will take part in a group stage leading into knockouts and the regular season will try pick up afterwards with the first three games counting towards all that as well as this unique tournament thingy. All details that have had a mention in these pages before if you’re a regular reader... which you should be. Health and safety protocols will be enforced around the virus stuff. No fans. The groups have been drawn with conferences in mind.

Pretty clear main group to focus on there being Group D. You’ve got three teams outta four with potential kiwi appearances. Bear in mind that only Michael Boxall actually played during the brief run of games that were played before the lockdowns but there are eight NZers signed to MLS teams for 2020.

Don’t forget that the NWSL is also doing a weird tournament thing which will start on 27 June in the USA and will include four of Aotearoa’s finest. Strange to think about sports happening soon in America given the state of the place at the moment but there you go.

Up Next: Mark them calendars

Nikko Boxall – Viborg FF (Danish Division 1)

Back on the bench for a 4-2 wild one as VFF beat Roskilde. Boxall got the last ten minutes out there as part of a double sub to complete their allotted five changes, a defensive change to try hold on to that two-goal lead after the fourth goal was put away. VFF were 2-0 down after half an hour and stormed all the way back to win it.

This was followed by a 4-1 win three days later against Hvidovre in which Nikko Boxall played ninety minutes. They scored first, conceded an equaliser, then did the business the rest of the way. The quickfire matches mean a bit of squad rotation but good to see Nikko involved in a couple quality wins.

Six points from those two games with eight goals scored. Surely too late to get them promoted since they’re still seven points behind Vejle with only one team going up this season but they might as well get a nice firm grip on second place and this result keeps them two points clear of next opponents FC Fredericia. Which, yeah, last week’s Flying Kiwis said that the promotion chances were dead as there were only two remaining rounds. That turned out to be a google translate miss as the remaining games were still unscheduled. Three more have been added to the calendar since then which will take teams up to 28 matches played. Dunno how much further that’ll go but the more the merrier.

Up Next: VFF vs Fredericia on Saturday at 5am (NZT)

Chris Wood - Burnley FC (English Premier League)

We’ve still got that awkwardness with Woody trying to get fit in time for the restart as he continues to deal with an Achilles injury. He sat out Burnley’s 1-1 draw with Preston North End a friendly match with Matej Vydra scoring the goal – he’s a chance to partner Jay Rodriguez in their next Premier League fixture if Wood is out... although that game’s against Manchester City so they’ll probably pick more of a defensive-minded second striker (Jeff Hendrick had been doing that role earlier in the season). Remember Ashley Barnes is still injured and will definitely miss the City game. It’s feeling more likely than not that Chris Wood will miss that one too. He’s got a week left to recover though they might wanna save him for the homer against Watford three days later which is a tad more winnable for the Clarets. Burnley do have to cram in nine games in six weeks and they already have a small squad so playing it fast and loose with injuries ain’t recommended.

Up Next: Man City vs Burnley on Tuesday at 7am (NZT)

Jeremy Brockie – Maritzburg United (South African Premier Soccer League)

SuperSport CEO Stan Matthews: “He is one of the strikers we are considering for next season but it's too early to make decisions now. His agent has contacted me and I told him we will be in touch as soon as we can see where the season is going.”

How about it? Jeremy Brockie’s believed to have had his contract option declined by Mamelodi Sundowns and he hasn’t quite lit it up at Maritzburg on loan yet but his old club SuperSport are now on record as having a bit of interest in bringing him back next season if things align. Keep in mind that he left on the verge of breaking the club’s all-time goal scoring tally. With 54 goals in his three years there he’s three short of tying that record so perhaps a little unfinished business to take care of too.

Up Next: Still not sure when the PSL will be back, though the government’s allowed for limited training to get back underway now so we’re slowly getting there

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