Flying Kiwis – August 15
Ben Waine – Plymouth Argyle (English Championship)
What can you say? The bro knows where the goal is. Given the start up front for Plymouth Argyle in their EFL Cup first round match against Leyton Orient, Ben Waine responded with a first half brace and went on to win man of the match. Cup competitions seem to be a special favourite with Waineo; his first goal for Argyle was in the EFL Trophy last January and he always loved an Aussie Cup goal with the Wellington Phoenix too (4 goals in 6 games overall).
These were his first home goals for Plymouth Argyle and it could have been even better. Along with a slick finish pouncing upon a defensive error and then a close range tap-in that probably hit him more than he hit it... Waine also had a goal disallowed for offside (he thought it was marginal, replays told otherwise). Later on he seemed to be in on goal after a quick free kick but the ref called it back as the ball had been rolling when it was kicked. Also had a couple other encouraging moments in there – a very involved performance from the Waine Train, especially in the first half. That’s what we wanna see.
Argyle should’ve scored more than they did but it was a tidy victory to take them into the next round, achieved despite making ten changes to the starting eleven from their previous league game. Waine was subbed off for the last few minutes to warm applause. Great effort and a perfectly timed statement to the club in case they’re still looking for another striker before the transfer window closes. Plymouth will face Premier League club Crystal Palace in the second round of the EFL Cup at the end of the month.
PAFC manager Steven Schumacher: “I'm really pleased for Ben. That's his first goals at Home Park. He has been here since January, he works so hard every day in training. He's desperate to learn and improve, and get better so he's going to get chances. I think his all-round performance was good tonight and for him to score two goals here at Home Park in front of the Devonport End that will give him loads of confidence.”
It was back to the bench for Waine for the subsequent Championship game, as anticipated. Ryan Hardie got the start as the Pilgrims travelled to face Watford. A relegated team against a promoted team. Quite possibly the biggest disparity in budgets of any fixture this EFL season... yet despite an abundance of Watford shots they never found a way through the Argyle defence. In fact it was the counter attacking speed of PAFC which arguably looked most dangerous.
Ben Waine was subbed on in place of Hardie for the last eight minutes plus stoppage time and there was one instance where, for a split second, it looked like he was going to dart in behind the defence for a possible winner... but his touch eluded him (and then Watford nearly scored at the other end). The game ended 0-0. Plymouth pocketed a very commendable point on the road. That’s two substitute league appearances and a goal-scoring man of the match start in a midweek cup game for Waineo since promotion. Brilliant start.
Up Next: Another relegated Prem club as Plymouth host Southampton at 11.30pm on Saturday (NZT)
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
A new Premier League season has begun and Chris Wood is still ripping in. Despite his permanent transfer only becoming official at the start of this window, he had to cope with an offseason full of rumours debating whether or not he’d even still be there by week one. Nottingham Forest have made a concerted effort to trim their squad after bloating things with a ridiculous 30 incoming players over the previous two windows and many felt Wood could be part of that culling. Didn’t help that he spent most of the offseason out injured from the knock he’d taken in All Whites training back in March.
Clearly Woodsy isn’t going to be a regular starter for this Forest team. The brilliant late-season form of Taiwo Awoniyi last term made sure of that. But he has survived the cull so far and looks primed to be Awoniyi’s main central forward backup. Of course, they won’t necessarily bother with a striker in games that Awoniyi doesn’t start – as we witnessed against Arsenal this week with Awoniyi only on the bench due to injury with Morgan Gibbs-White, Danilo, and Brennan Johnson covering the three forward spots instead. But he’ll be there or thereabouts.
Arsenal looked very good for long stretches against Nottm Forest. Eddie Nketia and Bukayo Saka scored banger finishes midway through the first half as the Gunners absolutely owned the possession stats and had Forest scrambling. 2-0 down at that stage it seemed they were on course to get steamrolled. Instead they survived a few more scary moments, including AFC debutant Declan Rice having a shot tipped onto the post, then ran on a few attacking subs. Awoniyi joined the game, as did Anthony Elanga, and yeah that worked out alright for them. The pace and directness of Elanga, which the All Whites learned about in their defeat to Sweden recently, was a game changer as he set up Awoniyi for an 82nd minute goal and continued to threaten an equaliser.
It was in that context that Wood was subbed on for the last few minutes in place of defender Joe Worrall. Very much a move aimed at trying to find a desperate late goal – there were 89 minutes on the clock when Wood arrived although keep in mind that the Prem are boosting their injury time allotments this season (like we’ve been seeing at FIFA tournaments) so there were nine more added on in which The Woodsman could stretch his legs.
You could tell they were going for it because Wood wasn’t even called back to defend the corner that Arsenal won soon after his introduction. Usually that’s one of the givens for Wood. Instead he hung close to Taiwo Awoniyi up front in search of that last big chance. Forest never managed it and Wood misplaced his only pass (trying to squeeze it wide to an overlapping fullback). However the mere fact that he played at all achieved something rather special: we’ve now had 20 consecutive English Premier League seasons in which a New Zealander has played.
Up Next: Nottm Forest vs Sheffield United, Saturday at 6.45am (NZT)
Matt Dibley-Dias - Fulham (English Premier League)
Just quietly, Woodsy may not be the only kiwi to feature in the Prem this season. He’s been on his own ever since Winston Reid’s last EPL match in March 2018 but get this: following on from some prominent preseason action with Fulham, as well as two matchday squad appearances at the back end of the previous campaign, Matt Dibley-Dias was included on the bench for Fulham’s 1-0 win over Everton on opening weekend.
He didn’t feature but that debut surely can’t be too far away. Coach Marco Silva loves him and Fulham do seem to have a strong academy focus these days – fellow youth teamer Jay Stansfield was also on the bench for the Cottagers... as two other substitutes combined for the winning goal with quarter of an hour to go – Andreas Pereira setting up Bobby De Cordova-Reid. MDD was sitting next to Aleksandar Mitrovic in the subs chairs. It’s one thing to be sneaking onto the teamsheet at the end of the season when there’s not much left to play for, it’s another thing entirely to be doing so in week one with pretty much everyone available.
There is one other New Zealander on the books of a Premier League club. That’s Marley Leuluai, who made the switch to Burnley after being released by Manchester City in the offseason. Burnley lost 3-0 to Man City in their first game, no shame there, and while it’ll be a few more years before Leuluai is pushing that level, he did last week get some gametime for the U21s in their final preseason friendly. It was a 3-2 loss to Ashton United, a senior team, with Leuluai popping up off the bench. Their subs were all U18s players so that’s where we can expect to see him this season (he’s still only 16 years of age, likely to captain NZ at the U17 World Cup in November). Leuluai has since made his competitive debut for the club with 26 mins off the bench for those U18s in a 1-1 draw with Charlton to get their Professional Development League efforts up and running.
Also for what it’s worth, Winston Reid had a chat with the West Ham media crew last month in honour of his 35th birthday in which he didn’t entirely rule out the possibility of him playing again. Won’t be in the Prem if it does happen but still...
Winston Reid, 3 July 2023: “I’m 35 today but, as everyone knows, the longer you leave it to find another club then the harder it becomes... We’ll just have to see what happens but meanwhile we’re living in Dubai and we’ll probably stay here with our kids for a few more years. Right now, it’s just a place in time but we’ll definitely be coming back to the UK at some stage because, after being a West Ham United player for eleven years, London is certainly still our home.”
Up Next: Sunday at 2am, Fulham vs Brentford (NZT)
Paige Satchell - London City Lionesses (England Championship)
Not content with having re-signed Grace Neville, London City Lionesses have gone and added Paige Satchell as well. Two New Zealand internationals, that’s the stuff.
It had already been whispered that Paige Satchell wasn’t going to be retained by the Wellington Phoenix but that was probably for the best. Satchell’s high-energy low-precision style meant she wasn’t really the best fit moving forward for a Welly Nix team trying to figure out how to become more clinical on attack. Ans her own personal development wasn’t really going to be suited by that situation either. Heading back abroad made sense for both parties.
And this move is an absolute doozy. Second tier in England, where Satchell should be getting plenty of game-time whilst still competing at a strong level – remember that LCL were contending for promotion last season. Plus it’s even better for the prospect of seeing Grace Neville at right back and Paige Satchell on the right wing combining together. This is a timely progression for Satch, who previously spent some time at SC Sand in Germany although her last three seasons have come in the A-League for Canberra United, Sydney FC, and Wellington Phoenix. Fifth club in five years for her... and yet another ALW player making a move to England.
LCL assistant coach Nicola Williams: “Paige is a very exciting addition for the Club. She will add to our depth of international talent and comes into the squad after a significant period with the Football Ferns at the World Cup. Her pace and ability to get past players on the wing will add an x-factor to our team.”
We’d all been waiting to see which Football Ferns would be able to leverage their World Cups into career-boosting moves. A massive transfer window for kiwi players has mostly been dominated by the blokes so far but now the levelling has begun. This is the same level that youngster Olivia Page is now at after her transfer to Sheffield United last week – cool to see her starting the Blades’ latest preseason match.
Up Next: Still another fortnight until the new season kicks off, plenty of time to settle in
James McGarry - Aberdeen (Scottish Premiership)
Done deal. There it is. Even in this chock-full transfer window this is one of the big ones: James McGarry joining Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee from Central Coast Mariners. The ex-Wellington Phoenix fullback was only at the Mariners for half a season but he won a championship there and has now hauled in a significant transfer fee. Absolute hero.
This move was in the works for a couple of weeks but McGarry hit the pause button in order to wait for the birth of his first child. Now he’s a father and soon he’s going to be playing in the Scottish top flight. So, yeah... it’s been a rather memorable week for that lad and his family.
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson: “The acquisition of James is an excellent piece of business by the club. He’s athletic, physically strong and has the winning mentality, all of which are important if you want to be a successful Aberdeen player. He becomes our ninth signing in what has been a busy summer and adds another piece of the jigsaw as we look to build a squad that can compete on both domestic and European fronts this season. That said, there is still some work do and I would expect some more signings before the end of the transfer window.”
It gets even better because he’s not joining any relegation battlers here. Aberdeen are coming off a third-placed finish. Only Celtic and Rangers finished above them in the 2022-23 campaign. As a result they’re about to embark upon a Europa League playoff round against either Žalgiris (Lithuania) or BK Häcken (Sweden) – Häcken won the first leg 3-1 so they’re the faves. Should Aberdeen win that tie then they’ll make the Europa League group stage. Should they lose then they’ll drop into the Conference League group stage instead. Continental footy awaits.
This will be McGarry’s second stint in Europe following his days at Willem II in the Netherlands. Back then he was a youth team player seeking that next step. Now he’s an A-League champion following after so many other A-League players heading to Scotland these last couple years, doing so for a rumoured six-figured fee and everything. Aberdeen lost 3-1 to Celtic most recently, after a 0-0 draw with Livingston to kick off their season.
Not sure how long it’ll be until McGarry is in consideration to play but after those Europa qualifiers and a Scottish League Cup tie their next Premiership game is away against Alex Greive and St Mirren. That could be fun. The Buddies just beat Dundee 2-1 (Greive played the last twenty mins) which means that they’re the only club aside from defending champs Celtic to have won both their first two league games. Greive had a close range shot cleared off the line in that match, highlights here if you’re curious.
Up Next: Stirling Albion vs Aberdeen, Scottish League Cup, Saturday at 6.45am (NZT)
Dalton Wilkins - Kolding IF (Danish Division 1)
28 seconds. That’s all it took Dalton Wilkins to open the scoring for Kolding this week. His second goal of the season, having scored a penalty a couple weeks ago. He also missed a penalty last match. Then this slick finish. Right on.
Wilkins usually gets subbed off midway through the second half. Nothing was any different here. Which did mean he missed the late drama as opponents Næstved equalised in the 90+4th minute... only for Kolding to score an even later goal for the win 2-1. Three wins and a draw after getting promoted to this division, super start from KIF. They’re second on the ladder only goal difference behind Aalborg.
We also saw Callum McCowatt earn his first start for Silkeborg up in the Superliga. It wasn’t a particularly memorable performance from him if we’re being honest, although he did make a couple nice passes during the 68 minutes he was out there for. He also missed some craziness at the end. Silkeborg were 1-0 down when McCowatt was replaced and still 1-0 down as we ticked into stoppage time. Then they scored twice to take a dramatic lead... only to concede a VAR penalty even deeper into bonus time – by the time that penalty was eventually taken and converted the game had reached thei12th minute added-on. Final score was a 2-2 draw.
Not much fun for Eli Just as his Horsens side were smacked 5-0 away to Sønderjyske. Just played the last quarter of that match and they were already trailing by four when he joined proceedings. ACH only have 3 points from 4 games since being relegated.
Also back up in the top division, Joe Bell found his way onto the bench for Brøndby again but there were no minutes on offer this time around in a 3-0 win against Lyngby. There are now increasing whispers that his old club Viking in Norway might try lure him back as they prepare to sell midfielder Markus Solbakken to Italy. There’s also reported interest from the MLS in America. A couple of English clubs have tested the waters with him in the past. There’s a good piece here analysing why Bell hasn’t been able to kick on for BIF yet. In short, they reckon he’s not asserted himself defensively as a deep-lying midfielder and his passing, while super accurate, hasn’t been progressive enough.
Up Next: Kolding vs Sønderjyske at 5am on Saturday (NZT)
Andre De Jong – Stellenbosch (South African Premier Soccer League)
Near post flicked header, ten minutes into extra time. That was Andre De Jong netting himself the winning goal as the Stellies (eventually) progressed through their MTN8 quarter-final against SuperSport United. 1-0 was the final score. ADJ came off the bench after 75 minutes, keeping up the recent trend of kiwi strikers serving up super sub antics – following on from Alex Greive and Callum McCowatt last week.
The MTN8 is an early season cup for the top eight teams in the previous PSL campaign. The PSL itself began two weeks ago with Stellenbosch winning 1-0 against Orlando Pirates and then losing 1-0 against Polokwane City. De Jong only played two minutes as a sub in the win. He started the loss but was subbed at half-time so it had been a slow start to the new campaign from ADJ... then bang with the winner in a cup game, nothing to worry about.
It was a game of many shots but few chances, if that makes sense. Both teams struggled for clear-cut opportunities. De Jong seemed to play as an attacking midfielder when he came on, same as when he started in the second league match, and he did get a few nice touches in there trying to facilitate the runners around him. Having said that, the decisive moment of course came from a set piece. The Stellies will play Orlando Pirates in the semis of the MTN8.
Up Next: Away against ADJ’s previous club Royal AM at 5.30am on Saturday (NZT)
Betsy Hassett - Stjarnan (Icelandic Besta Deild)
And the prize for the first Football Ferns World Cup squad member to return to club football goes to... Betsy Hassett! Having returned to her old Stjarnan club in Iceland at the end of the A-League season she was able to play pretty much right up until the World Cup began (including scoring in a couple of cup games). Then she helped Aoteaora win its first ever World Cup match. Now she’s already back in Iceland again, getting 23 minutes off the bench in a 1-1 draw with Valur on Thursday morning NZT.
Not sure what this means for Hassett’s chances of returning to the Wellington Phoenix but frankly she may have bigger fish to fry because after she helped them finish second in the league last season, prior to her Welly Nix move, Stjarnan have gained entry to the Champions League preliminaries and we’re only a matter of weeks away from the first round of qualifiers. The fact that she’s gone back since the World Cup suggests that she’s at least going to hang around long enough to partake in those matches. Having Hassett along with Daisy Cleverley (HB Køge), Olivia Chance (Celtic), and Meikayla Moore (Glasgow City) means there should be a decent contingent in UCLW qualifying this year. Not too late to find another transfer or two either.
Up Next: Thor/KR vs Stjarnan at 7.15am on Wednesday (NZT)
Meikayla Moore – Glasgow City (Scottish Premier League)
It was an eventful game and Glasgow City made a winning start to their title defence. More importantly, for us anyway, Meikayla Moore got the start for the defending champs. Moore had missed most of the second half of last season and that ultimately led to her also missing the cut for the Football Ferns World Cup squad. This was after a season in Liverpool previously where she didn’t really feature much either so safe to say this is an important bounce-back year for Mouse. She’s got a point to prove. And this was a very nice start to that mission.
Moore played 80 minutes in central defence against Hibernian. Didn’t have to do a heap of defending because Hibs had their keeper sent off after only 20 minutes for a foul that stopped a goal-scoring opportunity. GC were already 1-0 up at that point with Anna Oscarsson having nodded home off a corner after 10’... but it took a long time before they scored again to make it safe. Can’t blame Moore for that – she won a penalty midway through the half when she was rugby tackled going after a free kick cross. Moore was a big presence attacking those set pieces all day. That spot kick was saved to deny Lauren Davidson but eventually GC did score a couple late ones to win it 3-0, fair enough.
Should mention that Glasgow City did have central defender Claire Walsh out suspended for this game so that could affect Moore’s starting chances down the line. New signing Kenzie Weir was the other CB. Chances are Weir and MM are battling it out for minutes most weeks.
In other news Victoria Esson is back with Rangers after her World Cup break. Only on the bench this week though. Jenna Fife has been there all preseason so she started the 6-1 win against Spartans. Also Celtic were smooth-as in their 9-0 against promoted side Montrose with Kit Loferski scoring four. No sign of Olivia Chance yet. And obviously Katie Rood is out long term with her ACL injury but Hearts did win 4-0 to kick their campaign off successfully.
Up Next: Partick Thistle vs Glasgow City at midnight on Sunday/Monday (NZT)
Tyler Bindon - Reading (English League One)
Don’t be fooled by the “American Under-19 international” stuff, Tyler Bindon’s kiwi sporting blood runs deep. Most notably his mother is Jenny Bindon who earned 77 caps for the Football Ferns as a goalkeeper, though father Grant also represented Aotearoa at volleyball. Jenny was born in Illinois but moved to NZ after meeting Grant at university and became a naturalised citizen playing for a bunch of Auckland clubs during her career. She’s also been a pretty successful coach in NZ, USA, and also a bit in England. Tyler Bindon played for East Coast Bays for a number of years growing up – and returned to play for them at a couple of U17s National tournaments whilst temporarily living back in NZ during the covid period.
He had been doing his thing in the Los Angeles FC development teams but this Reading move was not a sudden thing. His family moved over there initially because Jenny had gotten a job coaching with London City Lionesses – where she’d have worked with current Ferns international Grace Neville. Not sure if she’s still in that role because LCL have had a bit of a tumultuous offseason and there’s been a lot of player and staff turnover. Tyler had been trialling with Reading since late last season however it’s this preseason phase under new manager Rubén Sellés which really seems to have sealed the deal. Bindon featured in four friendly games and trained with the first team throughout. Now the 18 year old has signed on the dotted line of a two-year contract with the London outfit.
Bindon’s been on the USA path for a couple of years now. He was first called up to their U19s in March 2022 and earlier this year played his first games for them on a tour to Argentina. That’s not ideal... but he’s still in the age range where he can go back and forth. Frankly, the Yanks still owe us for Tyler Boyd. We’ll see how it goes. That accent is more Kiwi than American, just sayin’...
Mark Bowen, RFC Head of Football Operations: “Tyler is a bright lad both on and off the football pitch who has the work ethic and determination for a successful career in the sport. It was clear very early on that we wanted to bring him in, but we have all had to be very patient to get this deal done. So we are extremely happy to have fended off serious interest from high-profile clubs, finalised the deal, and see him join us – and we look forward to seeing him develop and learn at this club.”
Reading are in the English League One division having been relegated from the Championship last season. They were in the Premier League as recently as 2012-13 and it’s been twenty years since they were last this low on the pyramid. But that dip ain’t the worst thing for a teenaged centre-back trying to break into senior professional footy. They didn’t start their season too flash losing 1-0 at home to Cheltenham but at least they’re still in the League Cup after a 4-0 win away to Millwall, in which they scored inside the first minute and sealed the deal with three more goals in the second half. Hold on a minute, what’s this...
Yep, that game also saw a debut for Tyler Bindon in central defence. Straight into the first team in what was admittedly a rotated squad for the cup fixture. Bindon was one of two debutants in the starting eleven alongside 19yo left back Matthew Carson. They also had three players (two new signings and an academy player) making their maiden starts following debuts off the bench in the Peterborough game. The other CB was 19yo Nelson Abbey, an academy graduate, who captained the team. Not to mention another three academy grads spread across the rest of the team. Despite all that freshness... they won 4-0.
Bindon was apparently decisive in his defensive work but also calm in possession for a team that played some lovely passing football throughout. He also nearly scored from a free kick, whipping it just wide of the post. RFC would score a free kick soon after but it was Charlie Savage who took care of that with the placement better suiting his right footedness. Just know that Tyler Bindon has been a set piece wizard since he was eleven years old...
He was then included in the matchday squad for Reading’s 1-0 defeat to Port Vale. Turned out to be an unused substitute but that’s fine. It’s already impressive that a teenaged signing from overseas is going straight into the first team picture. Now if we can only do something about the Reading FC social media team continually calling him American...
Up Next: Weds at 7am, Reading vs Cheltenham; Sun at 2am, Reading vs Stevenage (NZT)
Nik Tzanev – AFC Wimbledon (English League Two)
It wasn’t a good omen when Nik Tzanev was left on the bench for the Dons’ League Two season opener. Loanee keeper Alex Bass got the nod ahead of Tzanev, who’d spent the last couple years playing damn near every game for this team. It’s certainly possible that the transfer rumours could spark back up again but in the meantime how do you respond to losing your spot? You serve up a blinder of a performance in a midweek cup game, that’s how.
Tzanev was a brick wall at the back. He did get beaten by a first half penalty against Coventry but even then he dove the right way and nearly got his mitts to it. Other than that it was save on top of save. Extra credit for that kicked stop against a rebound in the second half. He kept his team in the game despite it being a mostly one-sided contest and then, with five minutes to go, he pumped a long ball forward for a flick-on and a few seconds later AFC Wimbledon were celebrating an equaliser against their Championship opponents.
Sweetly done from Omar Bugiel. But that’s not all. In the added time Ryan McLean popped up with a winner for the Dons. Tzanev still had one diving stop to make to preserve the win, just in case anyone had forgotten who the day’s star attraction had been. Wimbledon advance to the second round... where they’ll face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It was then back to the bench to watch another strong effort from Alex Bass in goal for the League Two meeting with Wrexham. The Dons drew 1-1 thanks to a penalty kick equaliser with ten mins remaining. Can’t say that Wimbledon don’t have a goalkeeping duel on their hands with two in-form glovemen in the squad. Time shall tell how that one plays out.
Elsewhere in England, gotta wrap this up quick because she’s a monster edition today folks... we had Tommy Smith delivering a solid defensive showing for MK Dons as they rode a seventh minute Mohamed Eisa goal to victory against Tranmere Rovers. 1-0 final score. MK Dons switched to a back four in this game but Smithy remained in the eleven and helped them book a clean sheet win. Still no Max Crocombe for Burton Albion with fellow new signing Jamal Blackman having started both league games as well as the League Cup match in between. Having said that, Burton lost all three of those games scoring a combined zero goals and conceding seven so maybe that debut won’t be too far away. No Max Mata for Shrewsbury Town yet but that’s just a matter of waiting for his work permit to come through.
Jamie Searle did get a Forest Green Rovers debut in their EFL Cup tie though. They lost 3-1 to Portsmouth, taking the lead after 24 mins but they only kept it for six minutes. Granted they still stayed close against a team a division above of them for most of the way. Searle made a sharp low save early on from a header, although he came out and missed his punch for the equaliser. In his defence the weather conditions were pretty mud. Here are some highlights.
Up Next: AFC Wimbledon are away to Colchester on Wednesday at 6.45am and away to Sutton United on Sunday at 2am (NZT)
Joe Champness - Adanaspor (Turkish First League)
Ah, there he is. Joey Champness had gone into the footballing wilderness over the last year following his acrimonious release from Giresunspor in Turkey. That departure led to a legal battle from which he and other players won a significant compensatory payout over unpaid wages. Champness did pop up in an exhibition tournament a wee while ago but he’s been without a club since leaving Giresunspor in early 2022.
Until now. Champness has reemerged by signing a one year contract (with a club option for a second season) at Adanaspor. This is second division in Turkey so it’s a drop down from where he had been playing previously (although after more than a year out of the game that may not be the worst thing for him).
Adanaspor were actually in some relegation trouble last season but then real life tragedy made that trouble into irrelevant when the Turkey/Syria earthquake struck their region in February 2023. Adanaspor withdrew from the league at that point, as did Yeni Malatyaspor, and both were allowed to keep their place in the division despite all their remaining games being awarded as 3-0 defaults to the opponents. Adanaspor probably would’ve stayed up anyway. Yeni Malatyaspor probably not. But that hardly matters when an earthquake leads to the deaths of an estimated 59,000 people.
So yeah that’s what JOWIC is up to these days. In fact, hold up, he’s already scored a goal for Adanaspor. He made his debut a couple days after the signing was announced and rustled the net with an 88th minute clincher in a 2-0 win over Boluspor. Subbed on after 59 minutes for his first professional game in over a year, his first at club level for almost 18 months, and this is what he did...
Noice.
Up Next: Adanaspor vs Sanliurfa at 6.45am on Sunday (NZT)
Marko Stamenic - FK Crvena Zvezda (Serbian SuperLiga)
Every week there’s progress with this bloke, seriously. Stamenic delivered another strong and influential performance as Red Star won 4-1 against Mladost Lucani. They did concede their first goal of the campaign but they made up for that and then some with all the goals they keep scoring themselves. Three wins from three to begin the campaign. CZ have scored at least four goals in each of them. Should be a tougher task next time against Spartak Subotic though.
As to the Almost Goal from Marko, it was nice while it lasted. The broadcast kneejerkingly credited it to Stamenic for his near post flick but the authorities swiftly and correctly reassigned it to Jean-Philippe Krasso. In the end Stam didn’t even get the assist because his touch was also deflected off a defender before Krasso touched it home. But the nutmeg that helped create Jovan Mijatovic’s goal near the end was the real deal. This dude is a ball-winning central midfielder with class distribution who can also do things like this...
Jeepers creepers. Now for something much more wholesome, here he is doing an interview with the kid’s side of the club media team...
Up Next: Crvena zvezda vs Spartak Subotica at 6.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)
This is Cacace Season. He’s the starting left back for a Serie A club and ready to deliver goals and assists and clean sheets and all them good things. But we had a wee bit of a false start in the Coppa Italia as Empoli were beaten 2-1 by lower tiered Cittadella. Cacace was subbed off on 68’ while it was still 1-1. It’s only cup footy. The real stuff begins in a few more days.
Up Next: Hellas Verona at home at 4.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
This Leagues Cup thing has turned out to be quite a lot of fun. Minnesota United have enjoyed a decent run, which has included Michael Boxall’s first ever career red card as a pro and has also some Boxy iceman displays in multiple penalty shootouts. There was one last week. There was also actually one in a US Open cup game earlier in the year. Then there was another after a 2-2 draw with Toluca this past week.
The game itself had been dramatic enough with the Loons leading 2-0 at the break but getting hauled back in the second half and then hanging on by the skin of their teeth after a red card to Hassani Dotson. They were happy enough to take things to a shootout. They backed themselves in that scenario. And for good reason because after Toluca went first and scored, Manny Reynoso responded in kind before Dayne St Clair saved Toluca’s second. Up stepped Boxy to put the Loons into the lead...
Never in doubt. Boxall has scored in all three of those Loons penalty shootouts this season. We’re one maybe two more efforts away from finding out that Boxy taught Chris Wood everything he knows about spot kicks. Anyway, both teams scored their third. Toluca then hit the post. The Toluca keeper then got a big hand to Jeong Sang-bin’s effort but couldn’t keep it out and thus Minnesota Utd advanced to the quarter finals with a 4-2 shootout victory following the 2-2 draw.
Charlotte FC also strode into the quarters via a 2-1 win against Houston Dynamo. They did that without Bill Tuiloma who remained out injured after picking up a knock a couple of weeks ago. He had a chance to go toe to toe with Lionel Messi in that following round if he could recover in time... and he almost did. Tui made it back onto the bench but was an unused sub as Charlotte got pummelled 4-0 with the great man getting the fourth. In five Leagues Cup games, Messi has scored eight goals and assisted another.
Minnesota United didn’t fare any better in their quarter-final. They met Nashville SC and lost 5-0. No need to dig into the weeds of that one. The Loons copped a first half red card to fullback DJ Taylor and it soon got ugly. Might wanna do something about this discipline, aye? Three red cards in five Leagues Cup matches.
Up Next: Back to the MLS as Minnesota Untied travel to face New York City FC at 11.30am on Monday (NZT)
Zac Jones – Haverfordwest County (Welsh/Cymru Premier)
They weren’t able to find a winner against Pontypridd Town but they also didn’t concede one thanks to some typical Zac Jones heroic goalkeeping. It’s getting to be a habit with this lad. Unfortunately there aren’t penalty shootouts in league games so Haverfordwest County had to settle for a 0-0 draw and a point to begin their league season.
Up Next: Away to Penybont on Saturday at 6.45am (NZT)
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