Flying Kiwis – September 20
Marko Stamenic – FC København (Danish Superliga)
A little over two years ago, Marko Stamenic was playing for Western Suburbs in what’s now the Central League. On Thursday morning NZT he lined up for FC København in a Champions League game against Sevilla. Picked to start, meaning he got to walk out for the iconic UCL anthem and everything. He’d only one start this season in any competition and that was the previous weekend in a 2-1 Superliga loss to OB (the winner scored soon after he’d been subbed off)... but here he was on the big stage of the UEFA Champions League.
It’s been a long time in coming. There have been a few close calls over recent years – think Sarpreet Singh and Ryan Thomas – but no New Zealand male has played Champions League proper for almost 15 years prior to this moment (14 years, 9 months, 17 days to be specific).
Gotta go all the way back to Chris Killen with Celtic in 2007-08. Prior to that there was that famous cameo off the bench from Danny Hay for Leeds against Barcelona in 2000-01. And back in the 1993-94 season we had the contrasting club pedigrees of Kim Wright playing for Maltese side Floriana, losing 2-0 to FC Porto in the first round over two legs (KW played all 180 mins), and Wynton Rufer taking it all the way to the third round group stage (as it was back then) with Werder Bremen. Rufer scored 8 goals in 10 games which was good to tie him with Ronald Koeman of Barcelona for the golden boot. More on that history in this deep dive (which was written back during the first lockdown, hence half the vid embeds have been blocked since).
To put it simply, this was a massive moment in kiwi football...
Stamenic was one of two changes from the Dortmund game a week ago, coming into the midfield alongside Rasmus Falk and in front of captain Zeca in a midfield three. Bit of extra defensive coverage in what was probably their best chance for a positive result in such a tough group. Smacked 3-0 by Dortmund last week, got Manchester City next... Sevilla at home was the least difficult of six very difficult fixtures. Hey, it’s the Champions League after all. It’s supposed to be brutal.
Sevilla got on top early and that meant a lot of Stam’s game was spent tracking and shielding off the ball. FCK survived a couple close calls at the back. However as the half went on we did see that Stamenic had the freedom to push forward in the right moments, running onto a couple passes over the top albeit to no avail. Then towards the end of the first half he started popping up in the penalty area as crosses were swung in – trying to use his height to good advantage. The best of those crosses was taken off his head and put off target by teammate Viktor Claesson.
Marko Stamenic also blocked an Alex Telles shot in the penalty area which led to an appeal for handball but his back was turned and his arms were tucked so the right decision was made to play on. No harm no foul... granted Stammers did concede quite a few actual fouls too. It was very much in the FCK strategy to break up the play whenever they could against their silky Spanish opponents.
There was a foul he gave away on the edge of the area in the second half which could have been trouble. It was more that the Sevilla dude, Joan Jordán, reached back in his shooting motion and tripped rather than Stamenic lunging in. Regardless it was a relief to see the ball cannon into the defensive wall (might have even been Stamenic himself who blocked it). Jordán was booked for diving a few mins later although that earlier one was definitely a foul.
The inevitable yellow card didn’t arrive until the 84th minute of the match. Stamenic’s sixth foul finally earning a caution from the referee. Would have been cool to see his passing accuracy a bit higher than 70% but a couple things were counting against him there: his team’s low possession stats and also, you know, the fact that he was on debut. No matter, we still saw him dinking passes over markers and dummying to teammates. Not always successfully but to have the cojones to try those things on UCL debut counts for heaps.
FCK’s best attacking phases came late in that first half. The end of the second half was almost completely disrupted by constant whistles. Sevilla were the more proactive team but they couldn’t find a way through that Copenhagen backline. Stamenic’s CDM partner Zeca got man of the match as the game ended 0-0.
Stamenic played the entire thing – the first complete game he’s ever played for FC København... one hell of an occasion to tick that one off. A draw was a decent result in front of a touch under 35,000 fans in Copenhagen. Win would’ve been nicer but no dramas. Heaps to like about the way they defended.
Also heaps to like when looking at the official stats and seeing Marko Stamenic credited with a game-high six fouls. Remember it wasn’t until the last one that they finally booked him. Enforcer behaviour right there. He also completed at least one pass to every other outfield starter in his team and received at least one pass from every other starting outfielder. No other fella in his team can say they did both of those things.
And now we interrupt this broadcast to hear from the man himself...
Unreal. What a thing.
Then as if that’s not already enough he also started the Superliga game a few days later away to FC Midtjylland. The two main title challengers last season but both have been all sorts of inconsistent so far this term. Stamenic hadn’t started a game all campaign prior to last week. Now he’s made three starts in a row.
Alas, it was another defeat for FCK. A close, exciting game but Midtjylland were a little more clinical and that was the difference. Starting in the 18th minute when Evander converted from the penalty spot after... a handball by Marko Stamenic. Rough one for Marko because there was nothing deliberate about it but a cross was drilled at him and he couldn’t get out of the way. Harsh. So it goes.
Mohamed Daramy got Copenhagen back level in the 25th min with a slick glancing header from a corner kick, getting there just ahead of Stamenic who otherwise might have buried it instead for some redemption. However ten mins later Anders Dreyer snuck around the back of his man to make it 2-1 to FCM again. Copenhagen should have been back level by the break as Viktor Claesson lined up a penalty kick of their own... except he missed the target entirely.
Midtjylland headed one off the crossbar after about an hour though it was Copenhagen who had most of the ball from then on. Stamenic stayed on until the 85th minute when Orri Oskarsson replaced him for some fresh attacking legs. Instead they gave away another penalty, which Sory Kaba scored but it was disallowed because he’d kicked it slightly with his standing leg first. 2-1 to FCM. Bugger.
Up Next: All Whites duty for Stamenic – then AGF at home on Monday 3 Oct at 5am before taking on Manchester City in the Champions League the following Thursday at 8am in England (NZT)
Abby Erceg – North Carolina Courage / Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
An incredible moment kinda has to go underhyped due to the NWSL being stingy with their broadcasts. No footage of the coin toss or pre-game handshakes (assuming they even happened) and therefore no glimpse of Abby Erceg captaining the NC Courage against Ali Riley captaining Angel City. Two kiwis captaining opposing teams in a major world league. There can’t have been too many instances of this ever happening before... although there is at least one: the first time these two teams played.
Ali Riley chopped down Kerolin inside a couple minutes so she knew where the danger lay. Unfortunately for her (but fortunate for Erceg), there wasn’t much that Angel City could do about it. A close first half in which both teams failed to finish off 1v1 situations (and Riley almost got an assist setting up Jun Endo only for a very good save to end that chance – both keepers in good form) was followed by a second spell in which Kerolin finished one at the near post on 52’ and the Courage kinda rolled them from there. Didn’t actually score another goal but they always looked more likely. Riley was subbed for more attacking effort with quarter of an hour to go. NCC won it 1-0 to continue a solid run of form to keep their hopes of making the playoffs alive. Not great for Angel City’s chances though.
Problem was they both then lost a few days later in their second games of the week. The Courage made matters worse by losing to OL Reign, one of the teams around them on the ladder. They scored first in just the sixth minute thanks to an own goal (sparked by some excellent Kerolin work of course) but then Rose Lavelle tied things back up only five minutes later and then they absolutely bottled it in the 26th minute for a Megan Rapinoe free kick from distance. Smashed low into the corner of the goal, good strike from Pinoe, but the wall literally jumped out of the way as the ball went between them. Inexcusable areas, especially when that ended up being the winning goal in a crucial game trying to crack the playoffs. Even still they had chances in the second half... now a 2-1 defeat has them in a lot of trouble.
As for Angel City, they went down 1-0 away to San Diego Loyal in the latest battle of the Californian expansion teams. Jaedyn Shaw scored the only goal half an hour in (great header). Savannah McCaskill missed a penalty with twenty mins remaining. The game was still a celebration as the two teams drew a record NWSL crowd of 32000 fans. But the situation now is that both Angel City and North Carolina are probably gonna have to win all three remaining games to make the top six and there probably won’t be room for both of them.
Up Next: NCC are away to Orlando on Thurs at 11am, ACFC host Washington Spirit at 2.30pm the same day (NZT)
Marco Rojas – Colo-Colo (Chilean Primera División)
Marco Rojas’ debut for Colo-Colo saw him come off the bench to set up the winning goal. Since then he’s made one start in cup competition but has otherwise continues to pop up off the bench, sometimes for half an hour, sometimes only for a couple of minutes. Away against Cobresal it was the latter as he was subbed on after 60 minutes with his team up 1-0.
It had been a game in which the Colocinos were below their best but an early goal for Juan Martin Lucero (12’) volleying in from close range meant they were always in control. Some sloppy passing and wastefulness up front didn’t matter as long as they prevented their hosts from getting up to anything either. Which they pretty much did... although a second goal would’ve been handy.
Rojas should have supplied one of those soon after entering the contest. His initial run in behind was ignored but as teammate Gabriel Suazo continued his run all the way into the area suddenly Rojas was not only back onside but he was wide open for the square pass. Suazo served it up on a silver platter... and Rojas hit it straight at the goalie. Keeper read it nicely but had Rojas lifted it, or merely placed it towards the far post, there’s a good chance he’d have scored his first goal for his new club.
Ah well. With a couple mins left on the clock he served up that belter of a pass for Alexander Oroz to take down and place past the goalie and that was 2-0 anyway. The little head checks as he waited for everything to align... so good. That’s assist number two since signing for Colo-Colo and with Ñublense only drawing 1-1 away to Everton on the same morning it means that CC move 11 points clear at the top of the ladder with five games remaining. That league title is so close they can almost touch it.
And now for a few fun and games ahead of the international break. Rojas one of a handful of Colo-Colo men’s and women’s players summoned up for some laughs on the club’s media channel. Egg and spoon race. Blowing up balloons. Marco absolutely tanks it on the final leg to lose it for his team, lol.
Up Next: Colo-Colo vs Universidad Catolica on 3 October at 7am (NZT)
Jacqui Hand - Åland United (Finnish Kansallinen Liiga)
A Jacqui Hand assist...
And a Jacqui Hand goal...
That’s how it’s done as Åland United rolled to a 4-1 win away against PK-35 with the only goal they conceded being a consolation in the 87th minute (after Hand had been subbed quarter of an hour earlier). Hard to tell if she actually got the decisive touch on that goal but they gave it to her all the same so she must have. Another influential performance from Handy who is up to 7 goals and 4 assists from her 16 appearances this season. 8 of those goal contributions have come in her last 8 matches... coinciding with an 8-game unbeaten stretch for AU.
Plus she was picked out as one of the star players of the last round...
The consequence of all that is that Åland United are now in a position where they can genuinely hope to finish third on the ladder. They were fourth when the league split into champo and relegation rounds. Since then four points from two games means they’ve gone ahead of PK-35 Vantaa on goal difference. Nine points behind HJK in second so they won’t get any higher than this but if they can hold onto third then they’ve done pretty bloody well.
Up Next: Home to HPK on Sunday at 3am (NZT)
Elijah Just - AC Horsens (Danish Superliga)
Following on from four substitute appearances, Eli Just was handed his a starting debut for his new club as they took on league leaders Nordsjælland. And he only went and set up the winning goal in a 1-0 victory. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Just was picked to play as an inverted right midfielder, Horsens seeking to stack the lines against a seemingly superior team. But that was merely the defensive shape – with the ball he was free to roam and you’d see him swap sides to the left as well as lurking down the middle. And right from the outset a strange thing seemed to happen: despite their respective places on the standings it was Horsens who were sparking more chances thanks to their slippery movement and organised defensive block. Just shanked his first attempt at a cross. His next was a beauty that Magnus Jensen probably should have buried (although the VAR might’ve had a thing to say about the offside situation if he had done).
Two minutes later Just set up Jensen for another chance and this time there was no mistake. Just would be booked on 35 mins for sliding in late to break up a counter attack. Easy decision for the ref. ACH clearly ramped up the physicality after getting a lead to protect. Otherwise Just was busy tracking back, hunting for loose balls, and then especially playing the ball out from the back in transition with some clever touches and plenty of composure. He also got clattered by the same bloke he tripped up five mins earlier... though it didn’t look like a revenge ploy, simply an accident.
That’s how the patten went for a good portion of the match. Horsens defended with heaps of commitment and FCN got frustrated at being unable to turn possession into decent chances. Just had a shot early second half which he pulverised but it was straight at the goalie. He would later be subbed in a double change on 62 minutes. Nordsjælland did make it very frisky in the closing stages but ACH goalie Matej Delač made three ripping saves in the final five mins to secure a famous win. Some quick highlights.
Up Next: Silkeborg vs Horsens on Monday 3 October at 1am (NZT)
Callum McCowatt - FC Helsingør (Danish Division 1)
Not to be outdone by his best bud and former teammate, Callum McCowatt got up to a bit of this...
As a few folks pointed out in the ol’ mentions, that goal was rather reminiscent of one he scored in the 2019 NZ Premiership grand final for Eastern Suburbs. Lovely finish sliding across onto his right foot. This one with the added bonus of the strength and presence he showed to win the ball back in the first place. That’s one mean goal is what that is.
Sadly the celebrations kinda ended there for Helsingør. They were up against Næstved and despite McCowatt giving FCH a tenth minute lead they failed to make the most of it. Oliver Drost had a great chance straight afterwards and on 16 mins McCowatt won another tackle and cracked a very useful shot from range that was pushed wide by an airborne goalkeeper. Then Drost hit the post sliding in on a low cross with the keeper beaten on 27’. McCowatt was involved earlier in the move. Deceptively tricky finish but Drost should probably have buried it.
Especially because ten minutes later they found themselves losing. A six minute double for Mileta Rajovic (31’ & 37’) - the first a counter attack in which a defender slipped over and the second a thumping shot from outside the area after waxing one defender with a turn. FCH spent the rest of the game trying in vain to score an equaliser whilst every now and then desperately trying not to leak a third on the break. McCowatt played 78 minutes.
A 2-1 loss busts what had been a six-game winning streak across all comps. Also drops them below Næstved to fifth on the ladder after ten games, six points behind first. Unlike those defeats at the start of the season though, this one felt more like a stumble rather than a fall.
Up Next: After the international break it’s Vendyssel away at 1am on 2 Oct (NZT)
CJ Bott - Leicester City (English Super League)
The English Women’s Super League is back and only a week later that it was supposed to be. Bad timing of The Queen to die when she did and cause the postponement of the first round of fixtures. Oh well, RIP. But seven days later it came the actual start of the season... although the wait mostly continues for the kiwi contingent.
See, Rebekah Stott missed the last Footy Ferns tour with injury and doesn’t seem to have recovered so she wasn’t in the Brighton squad that lost 4-0 to Arsenal in the opener. Anna Leat has joined Aston Villa and they had a brilliant upset 4-3 win over Manchester City in game one. But Leat was the reserve goalkeeper there. Obviously Ria Percival is going to be out for a few more months to come as she recovers from that ACL tear back in February so no sign of her as Spurs took on Leicester City. Don’t fret though. CJ Bott was on the bench for Leicester City and come the 67th minute of the match there she was, replacing Natasha Flint.
Leicester started the game well but were 2-0 down at the break thanks to a typically dogged Spurs defence and also two absolute screamer goals. Ashleigh Neville’s long ranger on 35’ busted it open and then in first half stoppage time Drew Spence scored one that was almost as good, this one bottom corner compared to the first one top corner. But a 58th min own goal by Spence off a Foxes corner got them back into it and CJ Bott was thrown into the cauldron less than ten mins later as her team went in search of an equaliser.
They never got an equaliser. Bott worked hard, won a few tackles, whipped in a cross or two... but LCFC started the new season by going down by a goal to the same team that beat them by a goal to end the previous season. 1-0 last time, 2-1 this time. Leicester City will be in full ‘avoid relegation’ mode this season given that they were second to last in 2021-22 and a relatively soft Birmingham team have been replaced by a strong Liverpool team that just beat Chelsea 2-1 in week one. So a battling loss to a good Spurs team isn’t too bad. Bottle that energy and see how it goes next match.
Up Next: Leicester City vs Aston Villa on Monday at 3am (NZT)
Vic Esson - Rangers FC (Scottish Premier League)
Simple day at the office for Victoria Esson whose busiest part of the game was probably the minute’s silence for Queen Elizabeth II just prior to kick off. Because once this game, away to Partick Thistle, got underway there was only ever gonna be one winner. Esson did have a couple of saves to make but they were easy ones as Rangers strolled to a 6-0 win with six different goal scorers.
With that one in the bag, Rangers have won five outta five in the SWPL and are yet to concede a goal. Whistle scoring 35 in the process. Granted Celtic and Glasgow City, more on each of them in a sec, are also still perfect and it’s the head to head games between the trio that’ll decide this title. Meanwhile attention for Rangers now shifts to the small matter of second round Champions League qualifiers with their home leg against Benfica coming up. They’re playing it at Ibrox and everything. Should be a great occasion and fingers cross that Esson gets the start after she played both their first round games. The away leg is a week later... win this tie and they’re into the illustrious group stages.
Up Next: UCL second round qualifying, Rangers vs Benfica, Weds at 6.30am (NZT)
Meikayla Moore – Glasgow City (Scottish Premier League)
Glasgow City weren’t quiiiite as convincing as they faced Hibernians on the road... but still came away with a 4-0 win so nothing to worry about. Meikayla Moore started and played 85 minutes in the backline as they held that clean sheet with Moore’s passing range very much on display in this one. All the scoring was done in the first half although oddly both teams missed penalties in the second – each of them saved. Catch some highlights here. No UCL games for Glasgow City on the calendar because they got knocked out last round.
Meanwhile Liv Chance was rested out of international duty for Celtic. She came off the bench for the last quarter of an hour of their 6-0 win over Hamilton Accies – Celtic have also yet to concede this season but have only scored 29 goals. Chance was involved in a few nice moments down the stretch but nothing that ended up as another goal.
Up Next: GC vs Hearts on Monday at 2am (NZT)
Katie Rood - Heart of Midlothian (Scottish Premier League)
And definitely not to be forgotten was a quality performance from Katie Rood for Hearts. Set up the first goal for Georgia Timms with a lovely first touch turn and then a ball poked through into the area. Then scored the second herself from the penalty spot after a handball was spotted in the area. Hearts beat Dundee United 2-0 and Roodie hauled in a goal and an assist. That’s the good stuff.
Up Next: Away to Meikayla Moore/Glasgow City on Monday at 2am (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
Right, so... what appears to have happened here is that in the fifth minute of stoppage time with the Timbers trailing by a goal away to Columbus Crew, Portland were up around the Crew penalty area in search of an equaliser when a poor cross was sent behind Tuiloma who scrapped to keep possession by poking it back to Santiago Moreno.
Moreno had three defenders around him with Tuiloma on the floor from the challenge he’d just made. Don’t think this happened deliberately... but Moreno managed to kick the ball OFF THE FACE of Bill Tuiloma and back to him, where he took a touch and then smashed in a beautiful goal for 1-1. Tuiloma copped a pop on the nose for his troubles, and not a gentle one either, but they also gave him the official assist so all’s well that ends well, s’pose.
It hadn’t been a vintage day for the Timbers. They’d had trouble getting going, unable to really keep the ball, and rightfully went behind after 36 mins as Kevin Molino got into the area on an overlap and picked his spot. Tuiloma had gotten lucky within two mins of kickoff as he failed to shoulder Cucho Hernandez off the ball in the area only for Hernandez to dig a shot up over the bar... though in all honesty there weren’t an abundance of chances going around. Portland did largely defend well. They just needed to get it going up the other end.
Thankfully the second half was better. Tuiloma got up for one of those powerful set piece headers on a 59th min corner and for a split-second that looked like the equaliser. Only the keeper made a really nice two-handed save on the dive to deny him. Not too many goalies have been able to stop those this year. A very slim offside call with ten to go meant that Cucho Hernandez couldn’t keep the goal he thought he’d scored for Columbus. Then Moreno did what he did with almost the last kick of the game and somehow the Timbers came away with a point. Breaks a four match winning streak but that point helps plenty as they try to secure their playoff spot with two more regular season games remaining.
Up Next: Portland vs LAFC on Monday 3 October at 8am (NZT)
Jamie Searle – Barnsley (English League One)
Jamie Searle only got on the bench for the first time at Barnsley two weeks ago. They then went back to Jack Walton as the reserve keeper for the subsequent game but it was Searle’s turn away to Cambridge this week. That had him in a comfortable position to see Devante Cole (son of Andy) put Barnsley into a half-time lead, feet up and things looking swell.
Until Bradley Collins got hurt. The staring keeper. It was a challenge in the air and he came off second best, thus after some concerned physio treatment determined he couldn’t continue it was Jamie Searle who had to get ready in a hurry. Not only for his Barnsley debut... but for his professional debut. He’s played a fair bit of academy footy since moving to England (with Aston Villa and Swansea City) but the only senior game he’d played in his career to date was his All Whites debut against New Caledonia back in March.
Oh and to make matters worse, Liam Kitching got himself a second yellow ten mins after Searle came on meaning that they were up 1-0 but down to ten men away from home with twenty minutes still to go. Yeah, no dramas. Searle kept it simple, going long every time he got the ball at his feet, and not only did Barnsley hang on but additional goals for Robbie Cundy (76’) and James Noorwood (90+1’) meant that they won it in style. 3-0 the final score. Even after 14 minutes of injury time due to the Collins knock and the red card, in fact they might have even won by more.
Jamie Searle: “First thing's first, everyone hopes Brad is alright. It wasn't the nicest of collisions, I hope he's alright. It's not the way I wanted to make my debut, but it's happened and you've just got to get on with it. It's hard when you're sitting on the bench. You do switch off a little bit but you're still engaged in the game, watching what is happening, how they're playing. As soon as something like that happens you don't really get time to think, which is the main thing. You're just thrown in at the deep end which is what I prefer. I don't think. When I don't think, I seem to do better. Essentially I've got to go out there and do what I do every day. We work every single day to have these opportunities and when they come around you've got to take them. Obviously, there's still lots of things to work on. But, look, I'm happy with the three points and a clean sheet, definitely.”
Up Next: Could get a go in the EFL Trophy on Weds at 6am against Newcastle United U21s (NZT)
Andre De Jong – Royal AM (South African Premier Soccer League)
Marko Stamenic wasn’t the only bloke playing continental footy this week, ol’ Andre De Jong got amongst some of that too with Royal AM. The South African club are in their first ever African campaign and trying to qualify for the second tier Confederation Cup (aka Europa League of Africa). There was some drama beforehand with chat about one of their co-coaches apparently angling for a departure but they managed to grind out a 0-0 draw in the first qualifying round away leg against Mbabane Highlanders of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland).
ADJ came off the bench in that one but he was in the starting team for the second leg at home as goals for Domingues (45’) and Ruzaigh Gamildien (87’) set them up for a 2-0 victory on the day and also in the tie. Good solid victory. ADJ lasted about an hour. Pretty comfortable after they got the first goal, deserved to go through and all that. Doesn’t appear to have been televised. Royal AM now face Zesco United of Zambia in the next round of qualifying.
Up Next: Weds 5 October at 6.30am away to SuperSport United (NZT)
Joe Bell – Brøndby IF (Danish Superliga)
Normally prefer Joe Bell to be walking out there from the beginning but after a couple unused sub jaunts in a row it’s good to see him out there at all. Subbed on for the last quarter of an hour of a scoreless game away against Viborg. What did he get up to? He got belted over going for a header. He made some nice passes, trying to access different areas of the pitch. Great defensive coverage. But what he didn’t do was score a goal and neither did any of his teammates therefore they had to settle for a 0-0 draw. More dropped points.
That Superliga table is looking nuts considering that last season Copenhagen won with Midtjylland second, Silkeborg third, Brøndby in fourth, and Aalborg (AAB) in fifth. None of those teams are top three after 10 matches and four of them are in the bottom half. We’re almost a third of the way through the season.
Up Next: Home to Lyngby on Monday 3 Oct at 3am (NZT)
Stefan Marinovic - Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israeli Premier League)
Crazy game over in Israel where Stefan Marinovic’s team were 1-0 up after 20 mins, 2-1 down after 34 mins, 3-2 up at half-time, then ended up losing 4-3. First goal he conceded was an own goal, a defender jumping in front of him to accidentally divert a cross into his own net. Second was a runaway on the counter, not much to be done about a 1v1 like that. Third was a wide open tap-in at the back post after Stef had to rush to close down the opposite side. The fourth was something similar as one guy got through and drew Marinovic out then slid it over to a teammate for the sitter. Hapoel Tel Aviv scored some nice goals at the other end but they also missed a couple big chances. Hence they’ve begin the IPL with four defeats from five matches.
Up Next: Back at it after the break with Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem on Monday 3 Oct at 6.15am (NZT)
Erin Nayler - Umeå IK (Swedish Damallsvenskan)
Good to be back and good to be playing. Erin Nayler hadn’t been starting for Umeå recently, not since the mid-season break when the Euros were going on. Stuck on the bench for the four league games since as UIK searched for answers in their quest to avoid relegation. But they lost the last two of those, prior to the international break, by a combined scored of 8-0 so Nayler came back in for a nice comfortable win in the Swedish Cup against second tier Sundsvall – beating them 6-0 – and then played again for the Damallsvenskan match with Piteå.
They lost it 1-0 but that was Nayler’s first league start for three months. The frustrating thing was that they conceded late first half from a shot that hit the post then was followed up by a teammate in the middle, and had some genuine chances to score throughout, especially in the last ten minutes, which they weren’t able to take. Highlights here. Still six games left for UIK to salvage things though as it stands they have 9 points from 20 games and are second to last on the table. Work to be done, in other words.
Up Next: Monday at 2am against KIF Örebro (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
The good news for Minnesota is that they bit and scratched their way to a 1-1 draw against Western Conference leaders LAFC in the midweek. Boxall was really good with a number of blocks and some fine tackling. Good strong work from the fella. Did miss one great chance to score though, a deep free kick into his path mid-first half that he couldn’t make proper contact with. Luis Amarilla also hit the post for Minny while Emanuel Reynoso had one tipped wide from close range but Brett Kallman headed in from a corner just before HT, no less than they deserved.
The firepower of LAFC did prove a little too much in the end, as Carlos Vela scored a wonderful goal curling into the top corner from outside the box in the 64th minute. No matter, a 1-1 draw against a top team was just what they needed to get the ship steadied once more after a run of three defeats. Also, firepower or not, Gareth Bale learned a valuable lesson in this game...
The bad new for Minnesota United is that they followed that game by getting pumped 4-1 away to Sporting Kansas City. Absolutely dominated in the first half, trailing by three goals at the break. Worst of all is that the first goal was actually a Michael Boxall own goal. His second own goal in four games.
Minnesota United were in a position to challenge for a top two finish in the conference a month ago. One point from their last five games now leaves them simply hoping to cling onto a playoff spot at all with two games left. The international break is probably coming at a good time. The Loons are two points above the playoff cut-off so are surely gonna need at least one more result to be sure of it.
Up Next: Away to San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday 2 October at 3pm (NZT)
Kyle Adams & Nikko Boxall – San Diego Loyal (American USL Championship)
Okay, just Kyle Adams then. Curious time for Boxall to be leaving SDL given that it’s near the end of the season and they’ve just clinched a playoff spot after a 3-0 win against James Musa and Phoenix Rising. Musa got a yellow btw.
But while Adams has been brilliant for them, earning himself a maiden call up to the All Whites for the Australia games, Nikko Boxall has hardly got a look in. Only started 7 of 30 games, coming off the bench in another 7 - meaning that he hasn’t even played in more than half of their matches. Not really what he was hoping for when he signed in the offseason. Never got the opportunities... but he should find them somewhere else. Adams on the other hand is second in total minutes across the Loyal squad and is hoping for an international debut this week before heading back to San Diego for a playoff run.
Up Next: Adams will miss one game but should be back for Orange County vs SDL on Sunday 2 Oct at 3pm (NZT)
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