We are, currently, one week away from the beginning of the Tokyo 2020 (2021 Redux) Olympic Games and all that event entails. The two kiwi football squads are basically ready to go, most of them having been training together in Japan since early in the month. Feet are itching. Toes are tingling.

You’ve read about the draws for each of the teams, the Football Ferns getting basically the hardest possible group while the OlyWhites were gifted the best case scenario. A best case scenario that looks even better now with none of their group-mates taking the overage player aspect too seriously. Romania have a considerably different team to the one that qualified through the 2019 U19 Euros (beating England and Croatia along the way), as the old club vs country debate had a say in matters. South Korea will be the favourites for the group but there’s no Son-Heung Min, don’t worry about that much. While Honduras, who beat the USA to qualify, have been stitched up by the timing of the Gold Cup – their top squad is currently playing in that tournament so the depth is being stretched. As for the Fernies... there’s no need to highlight the dangers of USA, Australia, and Sweden. Here are the NZT kickoffs for the kiwi teams...

Football Ferns

New Zealand vs Australia (Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo) – Wednesday 21 July at 11.30pm

New Zealand vs United States (Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama) – Saturday 24 July at 11.30pm

New Zealand vs Sweden (Miyagi Stadium, Rifu) – Tuesday 27 July at 8pm

OlyWhites

New Zealand vs South Korea (Kashima Stadium, Kashima) – Thursday 22 July at 8pm

New Zealand vs Honduras (Kashima Stadium, Kashima) – Sunday 25 July at 8pm

New Zealand vs Romania (Sapporo Dome, Sapporo) – Wednesday 28 July at 8.30pm

And you’ve also read about the squads that were named. Those deets require some updating because the IOC decided that in correlation with all these other tournaments going on at the moment they’d allow expanded squads. That means the four travelling reserves now become full members of the group, the squads stretching from 18 players to 22 players. Both teams had gone pretty young/inexperienced with those reserves so dunno if there’d have been a different strategy had Tom Sermanni and Danny Hay known that they’d be able to call upon those quartets but shout outs regardless to: Liz Anton, Michaela Robertson, Marisa van der Meer & Vic Esson as well as Matty Garbett, Ben Old, Sam Sutton & Alex Paulsen. A reminder of those updated squads...

FOOTBALL FERNS

GK: Erin Nayler, Anna Leat, Vic Esson

DEF: Ali Riley (C), Abby Erceg, Meikayla Moore, CJ Bott, Claudia Bunge, Anna Green, Liz Anton, Marisa van der Meer

MID: Ria Percival, Katie Bowen, Olivia Chance, Betsy Hassett, Daisy Cleverley, Annalie Longo

FWD: Hannah Wilkinson, Paige Satchell, Emma Rolson, Gabi Rennie, Michaela Robertson

OLYWHITES

GK: Michael Woud, Jamie Searle, Alex Paulsen

DEF: Winston Reid (OA/C), Michael Boxall (OA), Liberato Cacace, Nando Pijnaker, George Stanger, Dane Ingham, Callan Elliot

MID: Joe Bell, Clayton Lewis, Gianni Stensness, Marko Stamenic, Sam Sutton

FWD: Chris Wood (OA), Callum McCowatt, Elijah Just, Ben Waine, Joey Champness, Ben Old, Matt Garbett

Those squads are finalised, no more changes allowed (which is a relevant point that’s gonna come back around later in this piece). No take-backs or swapsies. These are the 44 footballers trying to make something special happen in Tokyo. Now onwards with the preparation yarns.

Olympians Assemble

It’s a convenient thing that a lot of club seasons are in holiday mode at the moment. That allowed for some easier negotiations in getting the likes of Chris Wood in the squad – the men’s tournament being technically a youth one means that there’s no FIFA window forcing clubs to release players – plus it also meant a heap of players from both squads being able to hang out in Aotearoa for camps prior to travelling. Huge benefits given how difficult it is to get training field opportunities at international level (for New Zealand more than most). That didn’t include most of the top tier players but it was certainly a start.

Those core groups travelled out to Tokyo on the first weekend of the month, then those who still had club commitments or whatever joined up individually when they could. The FIFA release date for the women was on Monday 12 July so it was up to NZF and the clubs to negotiate anything earlier. As for the men it was even more dependent on negotiations, but someone did their job well because the majority of the lads were all there by the start of proper training.

Those missing? Michael Boxall had MLS commitments and we’ll bookmark that fell for now. Also Joe Bell remained back for an extra Viking FK game, setting up a goal on the way to a 2-2 draw against last year’s league champs. And Marko Stamenic was the other bloke lagging on the travel. With one senior appearance to his name at FC Copenhagen and seeking to add to that, he found himself included in the preseason touring squad that went to Austria. Despite having starting potential in that OlyWhites midfield he missed the first ten days or so of camp as he got good friendly minutes against the likes of CSKA Moscow and Rapid Wien. Huge for his club career... then hop on a plane for Tokyo for the best of both worlds. Might as well.

For the Ferns, there were some inconsistencies. CJ Bott joined the crew a week before the release date while Vic Esson, who plays in the same Norwegian league (but was initially going to be a travelling reserve, remember) played right up until the cut-off... starring in a 3-0 win for Avaldsnes to get them off the bottom of the ladder. There were situations like that throughout. Katie Bowen was released a week early as Sermanni had requested, Kansas City coming up trumps there, but a couple rival NWSL clubs weren’t so generous with Abby Erceg or Ali Riley. You also had Betsy Hassett in-season. She arrived at a similar time to Bowen. But helpfully quite a few others are in between club contracts, players like Hannah Wilkinson, Olivia Chance & Erin Nayler, so they were all nice and punctual.

Michael Boxall’s Dilemma

So... Michael Boxall’s inclusion in this squad did not come easy. He’s a key player for Minnesota United, someone who has really held their defence down the last couple years as well as being a leader off the park and safe to say that Minny Utd did not want to release him. But Boxall wanted to play in Tokyo and Danny Hay had singled him out as his third overage player and they were able to negotiate a release with the club. This is what was said at the time the squad was named (from Flying Kiwis a couple weeks back)...

Adrian Heath, MNUFC coach: “Obviously, it's a big decision for us because he's such an integral part of what we do. We've still got a bit of stuff to sort out because the least amount of games he misses, the better. In one way, I'm pleased for him. In another, I'm disappointed for us because he's the cornerstone of our back four here. We could say no, but when you speak to the kid, I get it. Maybe the World Cup is something that's not going to happen for him. This is the next thing for him, so we reluctantly agreed. We're reluctant to let him go, but we hope he's back sooner rather than later.”

Boxy: “I don't need to tell anyone that I don't like to miss games at all, but we've got a full squad for a reason. These are the types of tournament that when you look back at your career, you can't believe you were there. Anytime you can play these big international tournaments, it's a massive honour. Growing up, ever since I was 5 or 6 years old, whenever the Olympics are on, everything stops. Anytime you get to be a part of it, it has always been something special.”

Mr Coach Guy said specifically that they were reluctant to let him go. Keep that fact in mind. Then, in what would have been Boxall’s second to last game before jumping on that plane, this happened...

An injury sustained in a midweek game against San Jose and that’s had Boxy in doubt ever since. The results of the MRI scan that he was scheduled for nearly two weeks ago are still a mystery. All we’ve really had is updates from Mr Heath who, as we’ve established, didn’t particularly want Boxall going to the Olympics in the first place. After Boxall understandably missed the following MLS game, Heath had this to offer...

Which a few days later was followed by this comment...

Remember that the OlyWhites cannot call up a replacement player at this late date. They would have been able to had the travelling reserves not been added to the squad already, that’s literally what they were there for. Although even still we’d have been down an overage player. But those dudes are already in the squad so we’ll just have to go in with 21 players instead of 22. Good opportunity for Nando Pijanker in the backline at least.

Wait, hold on a second because NZ Football were asked about Boxall’s unavailability and this was the response...

It’s all very murky. And, frankly, a little disingenuous from Minnesota United. They’d agreed to release him, he was named in the squad, now they’re saying they’re not gonna? This from Heath in a Star Tribune article from yesterday (which led with Coach Heath cancelling a weekend off because his team didn’t deserve it, bit of a grumpy pants move)...

“We agreed for him to go but then he picked up the injury. And I think we owed it to the rest of the group, to the club, to the supporters, really, that we kept our best players here. Had he not had the injury, he would have gone reluctantly, but with the injury, we wanted to err on the side of caution.”

Not really sure what the procedures are here, whether they can just change their mind like that. It’s one thing if Boxall is physically unable to play for a couple more weeks because there’s not much point in that case – although he would still be a huge presence off the field – but Boxall is already back in training to some extent and bloody old mate there wouldn’t even rule out the possibility of him playing this very weekend! As in, before the Olympics would even have started. Something ain’t right here.

Tom Sermanni vs the NWSL

Danny Hay isn’t the only one having dramas with American clubs either. Tom Sermanni abandoned his usual calm and measured demeanour over the weekend to have a right old pop at the Orlando Pride and North Carolina Courage organisations after they refused to release Ali Riley and Abby Erceg, respectively, before the latest possible date despite Sermanni’s requests and despite having agreed similar compromises with their Brazilian players.

Tom Sermanni: “We asked back in May if we could have our players available by this weekend and were told that these two clubs would not be releasing them. Then I see pictures of the two Brazilian players from the same clubs, on their way to Tokyo, and it makes my blood boil. Marta and Debinha may be important to the Brazil team but Ali and Abby are crucial to the New Zealand team and this suggests that North Carolina Courage and Orlando Pride are dismissing New Zealand football as unimportant as opposed to Brazil being of more importance. It is completely disrespectful.”

“It's outrageous. These athletes are all going to the same major tournament and those clubs have released every single Olympic athlete except for the New Zealanders. It's unprofessional, unethical and shows a complete lack of respect for the players and New Zealand football. In fact, it reeks of discrimination.”

Tell ‘em how you really feel, Tommy!

Now, it’s technically fine that those clubs did what they did (and both issued statements to media defending what they did and reaffirming their support for each and every Olympian in their squad – both teams have four of them). The FIFA release date was on Monday so for Riley to play on the Friday (a 1-1 draw with Louisville) and Erceg on the Saturday (a 2-0 loss vs Washington) was perfectly legal. It’s just also kinda hypocritical is all. A moral failing.

Note that Katie Bowen was released after the previous weekend’s game rather than hanging around to play on the Sunday (KC lost 2-0 to OL Reign) so at least one club had some dignity about the matter. Granted, KC are last on the ladder without a win all year while the other two are tied for top. Bit of a difference there, to be fair. But it’s hard not to wonder if NZ being in the USA’s group might be a tiny wee factor here too... and you can certainly understand Sermanni being pissed given he used to coach not only the USA team but also the Orlando Pride. Scandalous!

The other annoying thing here is that with the NWSL, they have these centralised contracts as well as club contracts. Similar to how NZ Cricket works where the Blackcaps players are contracted as Blackcaps but aligned with domestic teams while those outside that group are contracted directly to their domestic teams. USA and Canada internationals are contracted to those federations so they don’t have to abide with the FIFA window rules... as such those internationals have been away from their clubs for a couple weeks now. And New Zealand seemingly gets punished for that. At least we knew they were all gonna be there eventually, unlike that hefty question mark beside Michael Boxall’s name.

Vanquished Aussies

The All Whites last played a game in November 2019. The Football Ferns last played in March 2020. It’s been a long time between games and that leaves both these teams behind the eight ball in preparation. So these couple weeks of training in Japan before the tournament are huge, as are any opportunities to play practice games beforehand. Like when the OlyWhites took on the Australian team and oh would you look at that we whupped ‘em 2-0. A second half penalty for Chris Wood before Eli Just went bang into the top corner and there ya go.

Practice games are only practice games. The results don’t matter too much... but still it’s pretty cool to know we won. Especially against the Aussies. Get that confidence into ya – international tournaments are heavily reliant on Good Vibes and this is how you get ‘em cooking.

That Australian team isn’t fantastic on paper, they didn’t bother going after top tier overage dudes at all – in fact their only two overagers were Mitch Duke and Ruon Tongyik and Tongyik only missed the eligibility date by about three days. Then got cut from the squad after rumours of an off-field scandal that it’s best not to get into here leaving them with only one overager. There are still a few bangers in there. Daniel Arzani, Riley McGree, etc. Not to mention Reno Piscopo of the Welly Nix. But the kiwi team arguably tops that lot and sure enough they got the biscuits with a 2-0 win. Must have been a lovely occasion too because the pair are doing it all over again tonight (Thursday). Doesn’t really matter what happens there, it won’t change anything (and you don’t wanna have to wait until tomorrow for this article). What matters is the glimpse we got at the OlyWhites starting XI in game one:

Michael Woud, Dane Ingham, Liberato Cacace, Winston Reid, Nando Pijnaker, Gianni Stensness, Joe Bell, Clayton Lewis, Callum McCowatt, Elijah Just, Chris Wood

That’s how NZF listed them. A standard Danny Hay 4-3-3? The game wasn’t televised so cannot say for sure but probably. Could also have been a back five with Stensness dropping deeper. Clayton Lewis appears to have gotten the Sarpreet Singh position. You’d have already expected Just and McCowatt to play off Wood but Dane Ingham starting over Callan Elliot is notable. Most of the team picks itself though – there’s already a hierarchy as several of these dudes are locked on starters for the full senior team. The one thing to look out for with the second Aussie fixture is whether Marko Stamenic, who was unavailable for the first game, starts ahead of Stensness or not. His late arrival could count against him there.

Sutton, Champness, Searle, and Waine all got a go off the bench as well. Those were the ones that were reported anyway, could well have been time for a few others as well that we’ll never know about. Worth mentioning that Sam Sutton replaced Libby Cacace at left back so he seems to be the backup there, in keeping with where he was playing for the Welly Nix (Sutts is a midfielder by trade... as Cacace once was himself).

Great Britain’s Revenge

There hasn’t been a heap of detail about that OlyWhites friendly match but there were at least live twitter updates and video of that one goal has emerged as well as a prompt starting line-up and a short match report on the NZF website. The Football Ferns meanwhile played Great Britain without a single one of those luxuries.

Cast your mind back to before the World Cup when the Ferns beat England 1-0 thanks to a Sarah Gregorious goal. Outstanding stuff even if it didn’t translate into a successful World Cup. Well, come Olympic time the English compete under the Great Britain banner so chuck in the best Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish players into the mix and that’s a quality GB outfit. I mean... it’s mostly all the English squad. They didn’t end up picking any Northern Irish players while Sophie Ingle is the only Welshwoman and Kim Little and Caroline Weir represent Scotland. But still.

So how did the Football Ferns fare against that lot? A 3-0 loss. Ellen White scored twice while Nikita Parris got the other one. That was the only announced friendly game that the Ferns have before the tournament and Sermanni had mentioned in his NWSL rant that getting Erceg and Riley involved after their 16-hour flight and the 13-hour time difference might be tricky given they were only flying in a couple days before it. There are little snippets of info about the GB team. A starting line-up is floating around (with Rachel Daly at left back lol) plus we know they were planning on rotating things throughout the game given the heat. But info about the kiwi team is non-existent. Put your ear to the ground and all you hear is crickets.

Tom Sermanni is in stealth mode, people. That’s all there is to say.

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