Flying Kiwis – June 27
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
The international breaks are special for any player fortunate enough to have been called up by their country but this past one is probably not going to be one of Michael Boxall’s favourites. He was the target of the racial insult that, in light of some dismissive refereeing, led to the All Whites abandoning their friendly against Qatar at half-time. Most of that NZ team are in their offseasons now and will no doubt enjoy the opportunity to dodge the spotlight for a few weeks. Boxall, however, plays in the MLS meaning it was straight back into the club stuff without pause.
That meant having to face the local media where, Boxy being Boxy, he didn’t particularly enjoy the focus being on himself and was quick to shift his attentions back to Minnesota United...
Boxy to Star Tribune: “I got too many messages. It's great that everyone reached out and showed some love, but it's nothing I want to get a few hundred messages about. No, I like to stay off the radar.
It's one of those things, I'm pretty competitive and I say a lot of things that I wouldn't want my kids to hear, but that's certainly crossing the line. It's not something I'd ever say. I didn't really take great offense to it, but I think it's one of those things you can't allow on a football field," he added. "I'm sure it's a slur he uses colloquially every day, but when it's directed at another player on the field, you can't get away with that. It's not something I take personally. I'm proud of my teammates for taking the stand they did.
I've moved on and I'm ready to get back to work. We've taken that stand, and now it's out of our control and just let the powers that be sort everything out now.”
With that all on the record now let us respect the wishes of Mr Boxall and move onwards to the game away to Real Salt Lake, where Minnesota Utd conceded a penalty after quarter of an hour but surprisingly the VAR decided to overrule the call. That was cool because ten minutes later they scored instead. RSL keeper spilled one and Hasani Dotson put it away at the second attempt. Then a further ten minutes later there was Emanuel Reynoso to pop one in wide open at the far post after Jeong Sang-bin had dinked one over everyone from the byline. 2-0 at half-time away from home, how about that?
Failure to clear their lines invited the home team right back into it two mins into the second frame. Great hit from the RSL bloke with the goalie’s vision obscured (backup keeper Clint Irwin wore the gloves since Dayne St Clair is still away with Canada at the CONCACAF Gold Cup)... but that got disallowed by VAR for an offside earlier on. Two helpful calls from the video ref. Then on 65’ it was the crossbar’s turn to come to their aid as RSL were denied a strong headed goal.
Yet just as it was starting to feel like it was going to be a blessed day for the Loons, it very quickly wasn’t. A direct switch over the top towards Danny Musovski put him into a foot race with Michael Boxall. That might have been a close contest had Boxy not gotten his heels clipped and stumbled. Musovski scored as the contact was (probably fairly) ruled to be incidental. That was in the 79th minute. Minnesota still had a lead to protect and they set about doing that. Soaking up the pressure. Easing through injury time. Until 90+8’ when Justen Glad swung his left boot through a bouncing ball in the area and turned this thing into a 2-2 draw. ‘Bugger’ would be one word for it.
That’s now five games without a win for Minnesota who have sunk to 12th in the Western Conference. Plenty of time to go surging up that ladder with a run of wins but yeah this was two points dropped for sure. Curiously there’s a midweek game against German club Kaiserslauten coming up although there’s a good chance that Boxy doesn’t play that.
Up Next: Minnesota United vs Portland Timbers at 12.30pm on Sunday (NZT)
Abby Erceg – Racing Louisville (American National Women’s Soccer League)
The old stomping ground came calling. Abby Erceg (and Carson Pickett) returned to North Carolina to face the Courage as part of the visiting team. Unusual vibes for sure. These two teams had played once already this season though that was in Louisville and it ended in a 2-1 win for the Courage. There was a little bit of focus on the returns of Erceg and Pickett back then. This time that storyline went under the radar as instead it was RL’s Savannah DeMelo getting called up for the USA’s World Cup squad that caught the headlines.
Unchanged line-up for Racing who arrived on the back of three consecutive clean sheets. Meanwhile North Carolina’s been superb all season despite their young, rebuilt roster (and the lack of their traded kiwi captain). They’re the ones in the playoff places, not Louisville – although a win would have put RL right up there within range.
Louisville went hunting from the get-go, with Erceg chasing down a flicked-on free kick only for Casey Murphy to parry it away before she could get there. DeMelo had a good chance blocked later in the half yet most of this game unfolded in the guise of a defensive grapple. There were some hints from NCC such as one flowing move early second half and a few Kerolin flashes. There were fewer chances for Louisville although Thembi Kgatlana did have a close one.
But yeah not really a football match for the neutrals outside of one instance, in the 73rd minute of the match, when Tyler Lussi bundled in a scrappy goal for North Carolina. A decisive lead. They nearly scored again ten mins later when Olivia Wingate went on a mazy run into the penalty area but the thing about Wingate is that she only got drafted this year so she never got to play alongside Abby Erceg. Therefore she didn’t know her tricks. Therefore she got shut down by a truly remarkable last-ditch tackle...
That kept RL in range however the closest they could get was a Parker Goins drive into the box which ended up with a shot smacked wide of the post. Probably should’ve done better. That was that. 1-0 to North Carolina. Maybe next time.
Up Next: Away to OL Reign at 7.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Bill Tuiloma – Charlotte FC (American Major League Soccer)
Charlotte were a bit rude because they had a midweek game before Bill Tuiloma had a chance to get back from international duty. It was against New York Red Bulls in NYC and they drew 2-2 despite having been 2-0 up after 19 minutes courtesy of a couple of Ben Bender goals.
It was the international centre-back combination of Adilson Malanda (France) and Guzmán Corujo (Uruguay) that lined up for that one. That combo was broken up for the visit of Montreal a few days later but it wasn’t Bill Tuiloma who benefited. Instead Derrick Jones came in at CB alongside Corujo (Malanda missed out with an injury)... but don’t despair because instead Bill Tuiloma found a home at right back. It’s something we saw a bit from him in Portland though not one that Charlotte have quite tapped into yet (same as they haven’t tapped into his set piece prowess). At least not until now.
Tui comported himself nicely in his new-ish position, happy to say. Probably helped that he’d played hald a game there for the All Whites a week earlier. The nature of this match and his team’s style meant he wasn’t there to be a marauding side attacker. Nah, he just held his spot out wide and kept being an option for the pass. Dropped inside when the crosses were delivered. Scrapped away when the ball was there to be won. At times he looked like a third CB which was probably a deliberate ploy. It’s no secret that Tuiloma hasn’t yet got firing for his new club so it’ll be interesting to see if this is something they stick with as a fresh solution.
As for the game... log it as a 0-0 draw. Neither team had much cutting edge and although Charlotte did have the better attacking moments they also failed to make the most of them, turning good opportunities into tame saves. This is a third draw in a row for CFC so at least they’re not losing but this does keep them outside the play-in spots in the Eastern Conference, missing the chance to go ahead of Montreal with a win.
This is what the coach had to say after he was asked about playing Tuiloma at right back...
Christian Lattanzio: “He was good. We know that they have physical players who sometimes can go on the sides, so I wanted someone who has got physical presence and aerial ability. I mean, he played for New Zealand at right back in Austria when they played Qatar so it’s nothing new. He played right back for Portland. He’s a defender. He can play right back or central defender. I don’t think we should be so surprised to see a defender play in a different part of the pitch at the back. I didn’t play him in goal or number nine. I thought he did a good job.”
Up Next: Away to New York City FC on Thursday 6 July at 11.30am (NZT)
Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
One more top flight American game to get through and it was another nil-all draw. Angel City won a dramatic upset against San Diego in their first game after sacking their coach. They backed that up with a draw against Houston Dash... although having played against ten women for most of the second half there’ll be an inkling that they should have done better than that.
It was a last-defender tackle from Katie Lind taking down Sydney Leroux that earned the red. Initially she was only given a yellow but the VAR slowed it down to confirm a goal-scoring opportunity had been denied. Red card after 57 minutes. Angel City suddenly went from playing on the counter attack against a dangerous team, keeping the game tight, to absolutely going for it in a dramatic finale that could have gone either way.
Both teams hit the frame of the goal over the last half hour, with ACFC doing so twice. The goalkeepers were excellent. It was frantic and frenzied and we probably saw Ali Riley getting as far forward as often as she has all season but ultimately the teams had to share the points. Ninety mins for Riley in there.
We’re now at the odd stage where the World Cup clashes with the NWSL. The Football Ferns name their squad on Friday and Ali Riley will be there. Not sure how soon she’ll be released to join up with the team but it has been reported that Julie Ertz and Alyssa Thompson, Riley’s teammates who are in the USA squad, have already played their last game before joining up with the national team. So we may have witnessed the last of Ali Riley in this column for a few weeks – the NWSL does continue for another fortnight before taking a short break. Then at the end of July/start of August as players begin filtering back from eliminated teams they’ll resume by finishing off the last two rounds of the Challenge Cup group stage.
Up Next: Challenge Cup on Thurs against San Diego Wave at 2.30pm, then away to Gotham at 9.30am on Mon in the NWSL (NZT)
Marko Stamenic - FK Crvena Zvezda (Serbian SuperLiga)
It’s official...
Okay, technically it was already official but now that his FC Copenhagen tenure has ended and following on from the international window in which he scored his first All Whites goal (even though it won’t count because the game against Qatar wasn’t completed), Marko Stamenic was finally able to get himself to Serbia for the presentation. Stamenic will wear the number six jersey for the Red Star.
Coach Mitar Mrkel: “Today we present another reinforcement for the Red Star, we are talking about Marko Stamenic, who signed for our club back in winter and he is getting ready to play this summer. He is a young player coming from Copenhagen, playing for the New Zealand national team. A young player, but he has experience because he played four games in the Champions League last season. He also owns a Serbian passport and will be a bonus player in the domestic championship. He plays in the middle of the field, can perform adequately in several positions, he has even played in the central defence. A multi-purpose player, modern, who, I believe, will stay in the Red Star for a long time. He signed a four-year contract.”
Sounds good. For a bit of context, Red Star Belgrade just absolutely bossed the Serbian league to win the title by 22 clear points. It was their sixth consecutive championship and their 33rd in history. The domestic stuff holds no worries for them but they haven’t made it to the Champions League group stages since 2019-20 and it’s arguably been decades since they last went on a European run they’d consider successful – including aggregate defeats in their only three Europa League knockout ties. Hence why Stamenic’s UCL experience was mentioned up front.
Red Star will be playing UCL group stage footy this upcoming season. The coefficients have given Serbia a direct path so they don’t have to go through qualifying (they’ll be a third seed when the draw is made). Hence the task ahead of them is to win some games and try make the next round while they’re there. That’s why they’re stocking up the squad, with several more additions expected (as well as some departures). Hopefully the low shirt number is a hint that Stamenic will get plenty of opportunities.
It’s mentioned in the press conference that twin brothers/player agents/ex-Red Star players Ivan and Milan Dudic were influential in Stamenic’s decision to pick this club despite more lucrative offers from other clubs. Including telling him that he’ll have plenty more time in his career to chase those big five leagues – note that MS will be 25 when this contract runs down.
On top of all that, Marko adds in that press conference that he’s proud to be playing in the homeland of his father and getting to understand his roots better, that he sees himself as a midfielder who enjoys both attacking and defending, that he’s not worried who they play in the Champions League as Red Star is a big club themselves, that he’s still learning the language which has drawn some stick from the lads although winger Stefan Mitrovic in particular has already connected well with him (Mitrovic is a similar age to Stamenic and was born in Serbia but raised in Canada so speaks perfect English), added that he won’t be celebrating goals with a solo haka, that he chose the number six because of its midfield prominence and also because he wore it as a kid, and that he never played rugby (although a lot of the Samoan side of his family did).
Auckland City FC centre-back Adam Mitchell played for Crvena Zvezda early on in his career, though he didn’t feature for the first team. Stamenic said he hasn’t caught up with Mitch specifically but that plenty of positive words about the club have filtered through to him via mutual friends.
And you know what else? It’s only been a month since the season ended so naturally preseason friendlies are already flowing. Next season blending into last season. Crvena zvezda had themselves a game against an Užicu select XI a couple days after Marko Stamenic was unveiled and sure enough he was directly into the starting line-up. Playing as a midfielder in a 4-2-3-1, though Guelor Kanga beside him took the more defensive role allowing Stamenic to push forward.
This was the first opportunity for new coach Barak Bahar to oversee things and you can tell from the pics above that he doesn’t seem to be much for smiling. But he did seem satisfied with a 3-1 victory. Jovan Mijatović and Jovan Šljivić joined Stamenic in making unofficial club debuts. 24 different players were used by Red Star, who changed their entire team at half-time.
There were typical preseason vibes about it all but nevertheless Stamenic seems to have really impressed with his potential, offering a dynamic midfield option that they don’t seem to feel they’ve had in the recent past. Really funky how often he ended up in the attacking penalty area – including one drilled shot on target mid-first half that was saved and a glancing header from a late run into the area which clipped the outside of the post. There’ll be goals from this bloke if he’s playing regularly when the real stuff begins.
Up Next: Plenty more friendlies where that came from
Marco Rojas – Colo-Colo (Chilean Primera División)
Gustavo Quinteros, Colo-Colo manager: “There may be some outflow of young players on loan, but I'm trying to replace Marco Rojas who left, who wanted to go, and I would prefer not to lose any player unless we already have a replacement.”
Prior to the international break, the yarn was that Marco Rojas would be getting his requested release but he would have to pop back to Chile in order to finish up the paperwork. The respective parties probably haven’t quite had long enough to do so yet, particularly not since Marco took a detour via the Netherlands to chat with the international players’ union FIFPRO straight after All Whites duty. But that quote above is from his coach alluding what we pretty much already know: that Rojas has played his last game for the club. Should have official confirmation of that soon.
Up Next: Release day... plus you’d imagine there may be some more good stuff to follow from that FIFPRO visit
Max Mata & Nando Pijnaker – Sligo Rovers (League of Ireland Premier Division)
Sligo Rovers had already been stuttering but a 2-1 defeat to UCD is the worst of their season so far. Nando Pijnaker and Max Mata both returned from international duty to kit up for the Bit’o’Red who blew a 1-0 lead late against the bottom team in the division, a team that Mata scored a hat-trick against back in February.
It began smoothly enough. Mata had flicked one wide at the near post, with Sligo looking much the more positive team before an own goal after 22 minutes gave them the lead. The goal was a bit of a fluke. A corner kick scramble with a deflected shot then bounced off an unwitting defender and sneaking past an unaware goalkeeper. But that’s fine, they all count the same. Problem was they never found another one.
Mata headed over from a good spot early second half at which point they were way on top. However a couple scrambling moments at the back led to self-inflicted danger with the equaliser coming when a striker charged down a goalkeeper’s clearance stepping out of his area. Hit the bro on the back then randomly just ricocheted into the net from there in the 75th minute. No excuses for it. Mata had another headed chance after 83 mins, running onto an angled cross but guiding his effort slightly wide. Literally one minute later he was shown how it’s done as a fantastic glancing nod from a driven free kick cross put UCD into the lead.
Max Mata was definitely taking notes because Sligo Rovers won a free kick in a similar spot up the other end and put in a similar cross and Mata won a similar header only this one was brilliantly saved. 2-1 was the way it ended. Mata, by the way, is now only second in the golden boot ranks, one goal behind Chris Forrester of St Pat’s while Patrick Hoban of Dundalk has matched him for tied-second. There’s some work to be done.
Up Next: Sunday 6.45am against Bohemians (NZT)
Corban Piper - Wexford (League of Ireland First Division)
Better news from down a division. Corban Piper got another ninety minutes as Wexford’s defensive midfielder, this time in a 1-0 victory away to Finn Harps. Wexford really got steaming along in the second half with Aaron Dobbs scoring the decisive goal in the 63rd minute and only a couple of very good saves kept them from adding to that. Finn Harps did give it a nudge in the latter stages which almost led to a desperate levelling goal in the last few seconds. Piper deflected a goal-bound long shot out for a corner amongst all that chaos. But nah 1-0 was how it ended so Wexford stay sixth in the First Division. They’ve taken 10 points from their last five games and Corban Piper hasn’t missed a second of any of them.
Up Next: Away to Longford Town at 6.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Kees Sims, Otto Ingham & Oliver Fay - Ljungskile SK (Swedish Ettan Södra)
Haven’t really covered these lads much this season, partly because two of the three were away at the U20 World Cup for an extended spell (Sims and Fay) and also partly because the Swedish third tier is a few rungs down on the ladder so doesn’t often make the catchment for Flying Kiwis. Also, to be honest, they’ve kinda sucked this year. Was hoping for a progression on last season which would mean having a punt on promotion but instead they entered this week last in the standings.
But they ain’t last no more thanks to a 6-1 victory against Ahlafors and ah yes of course there was a kiwi touch within all that...
Don’t expect this to be the game that spurs them into a streak of victories over the next month though. That’s not gonna happen... because they don’t actually play again for another month. There’s now a five week break which spoils the momentum they’d have been hoping to spring forth with. At least they bagged a win like this now, jumping up a few spots on the table, rather than hitting up that break in a drought.
Kees Sims started in goal while Oli Fay and Otto Ingham both featured off the bench. Fay got a yellow card to go with his assist. Some tidy saves in there from Sims in a game that for much of its course was closer than the final score suggested. Ingham and Fay came on with the score already at 5-1. Of the team’s 14 games so far, Sims has started 10 of them. Ingham has 10 starts within 13 appearances overall. Fay has 5 starts and a further 5 off the bench. All three have been pretty prominent. Hopefully the wins are just as prominent when they return.
Up Next: Torns vs LSK on 30 July at 2am (NZT)
European Football Qualifiers
We’re a bit skint for entries at the moment with most major leagues in their offseasons and a few more days to go before the transfer stuff really kicks into gear. But there is a very sneaky underlying storyline to stay alert to and this is the ideal time to explore it. Because while it may seem like the European season only just ended (on account of how it did), the next one is already imminent for those teams fortunate enough to have qualified for European competition.
Champions League first. Last year, Marko Stamenic became the first kiwi bloke to play in the Champions League proper for fifteen years (and only the fifth all-time following in the footsteps of: Kim Wright, Wynton Rufer, Danny Hay, and Chris Killen). He’s since transferred to Red Star Belgrade from FC Copenhagen but no worries there as both were league champs in their respective nations and in fact Serbia’s higher coefficient ranking means that Red Star are automatically through to the group stages whereas FCK will have to do a couple playoff rounds. Newcastle United and Bayern Munich are the same although Chris Wood has already left the former while Sarpreet Singh is a good shout to leave the latter by the time the footy gets underway. Barring any shock transfers, that’s our Flying Kiwis lot for the 2023-24 UCL.
There’s nothing cracking in the Europa League... but mate get to the Conference League and now we’re talking. This is what Zac Jones’ goalkeeping heroics helped book Haverfordwest County a ticket too and they now know that their first qualifying round opponents will be Shkëndija of North Macedonia. Jones re-upped on a fresh one-year contract to be able to partake in some of that, should be good. As it will be for Logan Rogerson and Ollie Whyte at FC Haka, whose new season in Finland hasn’t been too flash so far but their last one was pristine enough to earn them some ECL footy. They’re up against Crusaders FC of Northern Ireland. If Haverfordwest advance then they’ll face either B36 Tórshavn (Faroe Islands) or Paide Linnameeskond (Estonia). If FC Haka advance then they’ll face Rosenborg (Norway). Those first qualifying rounds take place on 13/21 July NZT.
As for the Women’s Champions League, assuming they all return to the same clubs which is no guarantee whatsoever, the first round of qualifying (split into four-team mini-tournaments with semis and finals) will see Celtic/Liv Chance on the League Path side of the draw while the Champions Path side could feature Glasgow City/Meikayla Moore and HB Køge/Daisy Cleverley. Those games won’t happen until September even though the draw will be conducted later this week. As with all these ones, there’s still plenty of time for new transfers to be added to the group as well. That’s how we’re tracking right now though.
If you rate the yarns on TNC then Patreon is the best place to support the mahi
Also helps to whack an ad, sign up to our Substack, make a cheeky donation, and tell your mates about us
Keep cool but care