Flying Kiwis – November 5
Gabi Rennie - Eskilstuna United (Swedish Elitettan)
Straight back from Footy Ferns action (earning her first caps in over a year) and immediately chipping in with another goal (and also an assist) as Eskilstuna United cruised to another victory. The beat KIF Örebro 5-0, taking the lead inside of ten minutes and never letting up from there. Rennie was a little less effective than usual but she still found a couple of moments to stamp her presence before being subbed with quarter of an hour left, no doubt pretty gassed after three games with the national team the week prior. Rennie now has 7 goals and 11 assists from 24 Elitettan games this year – that assists tally is the highest in the entire division.
She won’t be scoring any goals in the Elitettan next year though... because she won’t be playing in it. With this latest win, EU’s sixth in a row, the club have confirmed their promotion to the top division for 2026. Wonderful stuff. They’ve scored the most goals, they’ve conceded the fewest, and if they can take at least four points from their last two fixtures then they’ll also be going up as champions. Absolutely brilliant to see Gabi Rennie playing a major role in getting Eskilstuna United into the top flight of Swedish footy. Fully deserved. Just gotta make sure they take that trophy up with them.
Alas, the men’s equivalent league has not provided the same happy yarns. All was swell for Owen Parker-Price a few weeks ago but his Örgryte team have gone four games without a win at the worst possible time. Caught in a three-way battle for two automatic promotion spots, they lost to both of the other two teams in that hunt and now Owen Parker-Price has also missed out on All Whites selection for the November window (though he is on standby in case of a withdrawal). But it’s not completely gloomy because they do have one last lifeline: by finishing third (there’s one game left but they can’t get any higher or lower), OIS will get to play a two-legged promotion playoff against the third-to-last club from the Allsvenskan later this month. We’ll know next week who that’ll be against. OIS will be underdogs any which way but you never know how those things will go. Matt Garbett’s NAC Breda promotion run a few years ago is proof that crazy things can happen.
Up Next: Gamla Upsala vs Eskilstuna at 2am on Sunday (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
The Eliteserien title has never been closer for Viking FK. In 2023, when Bell first returned to the club, they got themselves in position to challenge but then tumbled away only winning two of their last eight games and ending up in fourth. Last year they were more consistent but too many draws kept them from pushing any further than the very commendable third place they landed in. This year... they lead the way with three rounds remaining and it’s all in their own control.
The 2-1 win against Strømsgodset most recently was pretty typical of VFK in that they conceded first but then fought back to have the lead by half-time and then held it the rest of the way. Like a lot of these recent games, Joe Bell’s mostly been required as that deep midfield conductor rather than a bloke pushing up and contributing goals and assists. He gets lots of touches. He moves the ball around. Sets the rhythm, controls the pace. But doesn’t really show up in the highlights unless he happens to crack a second-phase long shot on target or something.
However, he did help create their equaliser with a lovely one-two on the right edge followed by a clever dink into space for Kristoffer Askildsen to run onto and cross low for Peter Christiansen to finish. The second goal came in similar fashion but from contested ball without Bell’s involvement and it was a defender who turned the ball into their own net instead. That made it 2-1 and other than a couple of heart-in-mouth moments from crosses near the end, they managed the rest of the game pretty well. Nice to see Gianni Stensness get 45 minutes off the bench as he continues his recovery from a long-term knee injury. This was his third match back. Three points here makes it four wins in a row for Viking and ten games undefeated.
That win alone isn’t what’s put the title back in Viking’s own hands. It was a result one day earlier that did that did that, when Vålerenga, despite only keeping 29% of possession, were able to score some very timely goals either side of half-time on the way to a 3-1 win against Bodø/Glimt. Viking have been waiting patiently for B/G to drop points as the defending champs balance the Norwegian league with their Champions League efforts. They didn’t actually have a Champions League game this week but they did have a midweek catch-up against Brann (which they won) and eventually playing at that intensity twice every week is going to cause a tired performance or two.
That finally happened against Vålerenga and now Viking just need to win their last three games and they’ll be champions of Norway for the first time in the club’s history. They’re still going to have to earn it the hard way considering that they face HamKam (11th but on a five-game unbeaten streak), Fredrikstad (6th), and Vålerenga (5th). But the trophy is there for the taking. Absolutely massive Flying Kiwis areas if Joe Bell and the lads can make it happen.
Up Next: Viking vs HamKam at 6am on Sunday (NZT)
Lara Colpi – FC Thun Berner-Oberland (Swiss Super League)
Always follow up the shot, especially with penalties. So many goals to be scored just by staying active like that. For Lara Colpi, this was her first of the season and second in the Swiss Super League (she scored a belter last year for the same club), giving FC Thun a first-half lead... which they couldn’t hold. Ended up losing 3-1 away against FC Rapperswil-Jona despite having been ahead at HT. Not a good result. FC Thun did draw 1-1 against FC Aarau last match but that’s their only point nine games into the season. They’ve lost the other eight including this one.
Tough times for Thun Berner-Oberland... but more promising for 2024 U20 World Cup representative Lara Colpi who originally signed in Switzerland with Young Boys where she was very good for their youth team but the queue for senior appearances was long so she went on loan to FC Thun last year in a hybrid move that allowed her to play U20s for YB and Super League for Thun (leading to the funny situation where she scored for YB U20s one week and then against YB senior side the next).
She’s since turned that loan move into a permanent one and has started all nine games for FC Thun this season. Mostly in midfield but they did stick her at right-back for one of them. Already surpassed her minutes from last season and has gotten full games in the last three. If this keeps up then she might not be too far from knocking at the door of a Football Ferns call-up. Without doubt she’s one of the best kept secrets amongst our overseas pros (Suya Haering at Carl Zeiss Jena in Germany and Jana Niedermayr at Union Kleinmünchen in Austria are the other two that spring to mind).
Up Next: FC Aarau vs Frauenteam Thun in the Swiss Cup at 4.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Finn Surman - Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
The Portland Timbers stumbled into having to win a wildcard game just to make the MLS Playoffs. After winning that (3-1 vs Real Salt Lake) they were rewarded with a best-of-three series against the top seeded team in the Western Conference, San Diego FC, where they went down 2-1 in the first proving unable to muster a comeback while having to play nearly an hour with ten men after Jimer Fory’s red card.
That left them needing to win in the second game at home to keep their season alive and initially the prospects seemed to be alright. They had a shot on target in the first minute. Hit the post within ten. Then took the lead in the 18th min when Kristoffer Velde smashed one in from just inside the box. But a massive chunk of injury time caught them out as they conceded an equaliser in the crazy clock scenario of 45+12’ (the San Diego keeper suffered a fractured cheekbone which required a long medical pause). Finn Surman had been throwing his body in front of shots and crosses all game but he couldn’t shift his balance quick enough to close down that attempt and Amahl Pellegrino curled in beautifully.
There was still enough time left for Portland to concede again before the half finally ended... luckily that one was offside once VAR took a look. But the reprieve was only temporary before a Hirving Lozano goal on 51’ put the Timbers on the brink. They threw numbers forward. They hurled the ball into the area wherever possiblie. They went close with several headed chances. But as second half stoppage time slipped away they were facing the finish line of their season. Then Gage Guerra scored a 90+8th minute equaliser and the crowd went wild...
Finn Surman was up for that long throw attempt, looking to flick it on before the thrower decided to bounce it off a short man instead. Which, to be fair, worked perfectly. But even then the Timbers had only drawn the game and would still need to claim the penalty shootout to extend the series to a third match. And when Portland missed two of their first three attempts the sadness was swelling. They were 2-1 down after three each. But apparently this was a day of destiny because three separate San Diego fellas missed the target completely (one off the crossbar, two over the top) and what do ya know the Timbers found a comeback in the shootout too. 3-2 in the tiebreaker. They’ll be going back to San Diego for an all or nothing game three.
That was much better than what happened to Minnesota United where the Loons found themselves trailing 3-0 after 41 minutes away against Seattle Sounders. They scored twice in added time to make it close again but ended up leaking another with ten to play for a 4-2 defeat. Minny Utd won the first leg on penalties (after a 0-0 draw) and are the higher seeded team so they’ll host the decisive game three. Full game for captain Michael Boxall. Maybe next time they’ll concede a few less goals.
Nashville SC also kept their series alive with a 2-1 home win against Inter Miami. Tyler Boyd has been an unused substitute for both playoff games thus far. Same deal with Bill Tuiloma at Charlotte FC, who drew 0-0 with NY City and then won the shootout to force game three. Everybody’s going to game three! Portland and Minnesota will play each other in the next round should they both advance.
There’s also the USL Championship playoffs going on at the moment but those haven’t been very kind to New Zealanders. Kyle Adams and his Louisville City lads had the best regular season record in the entire competition by an 11-point margin, taking 73 points from 30 games with just one defeat all year. Then they lost 1-0 to eighth-seeded Detroit City in the first round and now they’re out, flushing an entire season’s great mahi down the dunny. Indy Eleven didn’t make the playoffs with James Musa and Elliot Collier in their squad. Loudoun United lost 1-0 to North Carolina after being unable to overcome an early goal – Riley Bidois started and played 67 mins. And San Antonio were knocked out 2-0 by New Mexico with Alex Greive getting 25 mins off the bench. Greive never really got it going during an injury plagued campaign. So that’s it for the USL Championship for another year.
Up Next: Charlotte vs NY City at 1pm Saturday; Minnesota vs Seattle at 10am Sunday; Inter Miami vs Nashville at 2pm Sunday; San Diego vs Portland at 3pm Monday (NZT)
Liberato Cacace - Wrexham (English Championship)
The perpetual clean sheet with Libby Cacace on the pitch for Wrexham came to an end last week and they shipped a couple more against Coventry on Friday night local time. But that’s all good because they scored three – all from Kieffer Moore, all assisted by Josh Windass – on the way to a brilliant victory as Cacace played ninety minutes for the first time with his new club. This was Wrexham’s best result since getting promoted, knocking over a Coventry City side that were on a six-game winning streak and which still sits top of the table.
Wrexham were a goal down at half-time before Moore went nuts with a right-footer (60’), header (69’), and left-footer (83’). Coventry got one back with a couple mins left but couldn’t find another to level it up. Fantastic game of footy under the lights at the Racecourse. Funny how Wrexham seem to have hit a nice pocket of form coinciding with Cacace’s return from injury (1-0 vs Oxford, 1-1 vs Middlesbrough, 3-2 vs Coventry in their last three – the two wins were Libby starts, the draw he came off the bench). He had a great battle with Japanese international winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto in this one. Also put in a few tasty crosses and drilled a volley over the bar late in the first half. Not his most impactful outing but a very solid one within a victorious performance.
Wrexham have conceded 3 goals in 394 minutes with Cacace on the pitch (a goal every 131 mins). They have conceded 16 goals in 776 minutes without him (a goal every 49 mins). They have won three of the four games that he’s started and only one of the nine games that he didn’t. Sounds like a shut and dried case, right?
Moving on to Max Crocombe at Millwall, wouldn’t say the bubble has burst for him but his winning streak did come to an end as he conceded six times this week, drawing 2-2 with Oxford United and then losing 4-0 to Birmingham. Both away games. The Oxford United one was a killer because they conceded the equaliser in the sixth minute of stoppage time... both goals were tremendous finishes that Crocombe can’t be blamed for missing (especially the first one). The Birmingham game was a stinker all around and the less said about that the better. No update on when Steven Benda might return to fitness but even after the Birmingham loss the Lions have still taken 10 points from five games with Crocombe between the sticks so they’re not missing their Fulham loanee at all.
As for the rest of the lads in England, none of them played...
Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest) – Still nursing that knee injury with Nottingham Forest, skipping their 2-2 draw with Manchester United and expected to miss the Europa League game against Sturm Graz as well. Sean Dyche has said that he’s a chance to return for Leeds United on the weekend although he was left out of the upcoming All Whites squad with Darren Bazeley suggesting that it may not be until after the international window that he’s ready to go again (NFFC face Liverpool on 23 Nov NZT).
Marko Stamenic (Swansea City) – Was in line to face Manchester City for the fourth time in his career with a third different club in the EFL Cup last midweek but then instead was granted compassionate leave after the sudden passing of his father Nikola. Really tragic situation, condolences to the Stamenic whanau. Swansea City managed Alan Sheehan has said that they’ll give him as much time as he needs. He was named in the All Whites squad yesterday but that situation remains
Alan Sheehan: “I've spoken to him on numerous occasions in the last 24 hours. On behalf of the whole football club, we just send our love and support to him and his family at this moment. It puts some things into perspective when you lose a family member, so obviously we're all here to support Marco. I said that he can gave as long as he wants. We say and I say when I'm signing these players that we will protect you as a person and it is family first. So that's the most important thing that he comes back when he's ready to come back.”
Tyler Bindon (Sheffield United) – Still hanging out on the bench, counting yellow cards until one of the three centre-backs finally steps aside and lets him have a go. At the moment, when they sub a CB it’s to move to four at the back with an attacking fullback on instead. The Blades lost 3-1 to Derby and 3-1 to Coventry this week with Bindon an unused sub on both occasions. His last Championship appearance game on 30 August.
Matt Garbett (Peterborough United) – Peterborough Utd celebrated new boss Luke Williams’ first game in charge with a 1-0 FA Cup win against Cardiff City but Matt Garbett wasn’t involved. Like Chris Wood, he got injured as soon as a new manager arrived. They’d listed him as doubtful ahead of the match and opted not to risk him however he has been included in the All Whites squad so clearly nothing major (Peterborough are eligible to postpone their games during the window with Garbett and a few UK youth internationals taking them to the threshold). They did tweak the shape a bit under Williams so it will be curious to see where Garbett fits in and whether his role will change under the new gaffer.
Ben Waine (Port Vale) – Did manage to get into the squad for an FA Cup first rounder in which Port Vale won 5-1 against Maldon & Tiptree FC... but even in an easy win against a club from the eighth tier of English football, Ben Waine still didn’t get onto the pitch. He’s missed the cut for the past eight League One games and hasn’t seen the field since August. It’s going to take a lot of injuries and suspensions to get him involved, it seems. The timing has been absolutely brutal for Waineo... signed early in preseason and given a run to begin the campaign but then they added a few more strikers late in the window who promptly jumped ahead of him and of course by then it was too late for him to leave. Stuck until at least January - he’s on a two-year contract and found himself out of the picture after two months.
Nik Tzanev (Newport County) – Things started so well for Tanz at Newport County with a starring role in an FA Cup qualifier and then a couple good results to start the league season to earn himself the starting gig. Then a run of one point from nine games eroded all of that goodwill. He linked up with the All Whites a month ago which opened the door for backup Joe Wright to play and that guy kept a clean sheet in a win at the first attempt (Tzanev has zero clean sheets thus far) and now Wright has surpassed Tzanev for number one status, with the kiwi stuck on the bench for the three games since the last FIFA window.
Matt Dibley-Dias (Chesterfield) – Out with a medium-term injury and recovering back at parent club Fulham. Will to return to Chesterfield once he’s fit and healthy but there’s no timetable for that yet.
At least Tommy Smith did return from injury for twenty mins of the bench as Braintree Town lost 4-1 to rivals Chelmsford City in the FA Cup first round. That was something.
Up Next: Portsmouth vs Wrexham at 9am Thursday; Wrexham vs Charlton at 4am Sunday (NZT)
Kees Sims - GAIS (Swedish Allsvenskan)
Mission accomplished. GAIS only drew 1-1 this week against Öster, busting up their three-game win streak since Kees Sims has been starting, but that draw was all they needed to confirm third place with a round to spare and with it qualification to the Europa Conference League next year.
This was a bonkers game between a couple of close rivals. Sims got away with an early one when he tried to punch a corner away but couldn’t get through traffic and then saw a header come back off the post. GAIS took the lead midway through the first half but conceded five minutes before half-time when their defence didn’t deal with a low ball into the area. GAIS hit the crossbar during the second half. Sims made a couple good low saves. GAIS had a runaway in the dying seconds to win the match but and ÖIF defender said nah bro and took a red card for a lunging last man tackle instead. It therefore ended in a slightly controversial draw but the celebrations ensued just the same.
This club was playing in the third tier in 2022. Since then they’ve had consecutive promotions followed by a sixth place finish last year upon their return to the Allsvenskan and now a bronze medal effort. The last time they had a season this successful was in 1989 which was also when they last qualified for continental action (because of the timing of the Swedish seasons, it was the 1990-91 UEFA Cup that they qualified for). The last time they finished better than third in the Allsvenskan was when they won the championship way back in 1954. Kees Sims was the backup keeper for most of the season yet when they needed him to step up across the past month, after Mergim Krasniqi’s shoulder injury, he’s done exactly that.
What happens next remains to be seen. Krasniqi and Sims are both under contract for a few more years so if Sims has got the bug and wants to keep starting games it’ll probably need to be somewhere else - there’s also chat about their coach getting poached away so there’s quite a bit that could be up in the air around this wider situation. But that’s something to worry about later. In the meantime, he’s got one more game this season away against Malmö and then after that it’s off to link up with the All Whites in search of an international debut (and maybe even a spot in the World Cup squad next year if he does well enough). This is his first proper call-up, although pretty sure he sat on the bench for the senior squad when China came to Aotearoa in 2023 and Sims was part of a corresponding U23s squad. Regardless, this call-up has been long overdue for a bloke playing (albeit sporadically) at a level that’s only recently been matched by Alex Paulsen and Max Crocombe.
Up Next: Malmö vs GAIS at 3am on Monday (NZT)
Alex Paulsen - Lechia Gdansk (Polish Ekstraklasa)
Speaking of AP, he’s definitely been busy. The first game was in the Polish Cup the other day as Lechia Gdanks won 3-1 against Puszcza Niepołomice... after a surge in extra time got them over the line. Almost a pity that it didn’t go to penalties for the sake of Alex Paulsen’s highlight reel but they made it through and that’s the important thing. Lechia then lost 2-1 against Radomiak in the Ekstraklasa in a wild contest where Lechia seemed to have about four or five goal-line clearances or last ditch blocks go against them whilst conceding a top corner wondergoal and a fractionally-onside goal given after VAR intervention.
Up Next: Lechia vs Widzew Lodz at 2.45am Sunday (NZT)
Sarpreet Singh - TSC Bačka Topola (Serbian SuperLiga)
Last week’s goal was a bit fortuitous so this week Sarpreet Singh did it again and he did it properly...
Tremendous strike. Angling in from the right wing and curling around the keeper and into the far bottom corner with his trusty left boot. Such a good goal... and extremely similar to the one he scored last SuperLiga match. Both involved Singh starting wide right. Both involved a midfield coming across and a fullback pushing up, forming a triangle between them. Both involved Singh collecting the ball running on a 45 degree angle away from goal but infield, then turning and getting a shot away. Clearly this is a pattern they’ve worked on. Singh did drop out of the eleven for a few games there but he’s been back with a vengeance of late.
Unfortunately his team has not been. They lost 2-1 last week against Radnicki 1923 when Singh scored. They then got knocked out of the Serbian Cup in the first round, losing 2-0 to second tier Graficar (Singh played the full match). And while his goal here did give them a first half lead... they never managed to add to it and ended up drawing 1-1 against Napredak. After a bright start to the season it has all gotten kinda gruelling lately.
Sarpreet Singh: “On a personal level I'm feeling quite good. I'm feeling healthy and fit and playing consistently which is helping me to bring out good performances. But as a team we're we're in a real tough place at the moment. It was a game that we should have won and we we need to win. We need to realize the situation where we are right now on the table and be better. I think we controlled the game well, we we we just allowed them a counterattack and they scored and that was that was the game. We need to learn how to how to be better around the box and how to get shots away and create more goal scoring chances.”
Well, you know what happens next. TSC weren’t expecting to compete for European places as they have done in the past but dropping to twelfth on the ladder amidst a streak where they’ve won just 2/12 league games and also been knocked out of the cup by a lower-tiered opponent isn’t exactly hitting the Key Performance Indicators. In the impatient world of football that’s when The Club Statement arrives...
FK TSC: “Our club and former head coach Darije Kalezić have parted ways. We thank him for his hard work and wish him much success in his future career.”
Good thing that Singh found this burst of form right before that happened. Darije Kalezic lasted four months and 15 games in charge of TSC... he made it eight months and 21 games with the Wellington Phoenix. This was one of a trend of transfers from the midyear where a kiwi player was signed by a former coach. The Singh/Kalezic reunion lasted longer then Tyler Bindon and Ruben Selles at Sheffield United (Bindon hasn’t played for the Blades since Selles was sacked). Elijah Just and Jens Berthel Askou at Motherwell has been a glorious success, albeit with the club needing a few more wins to hammer it home. And more recently we’ve had it the other way around where Chris Wood’s Nottingham Forest hired his old Burnley coach Sean Dyche... although Woodsy’s been injured since that changeover happened.
Up Next: IMT vs Bačka Topola at 5am on Monday (NZT)
Elijah Just – Motherwell (Scottish Premiership)
It was a stink week for cup footy because along with Sarpreet Singh’s club getting bundled out by a lower-league team, there was also Callum McCowatt’s Silkeborg being thrashed 4-0 by Midtjylland in the Danish Cup – a competition they won two years ago and made it back to the final of last season. Maybe Elijah Just and Motherwell would make up for that when they faced St Mirren in the semis of the Scottish League Cup? Nope they were equally as bad in getting thrashed 4-1.
Huge occasion at Hampden Park and an even huger opportunity for The Steelmen to progress to a cup final having dodged the Old Firm in the draw (Celtic beat Rangers 3-1 in the other semi). But a bad performance in which they started poorly and never got any better has seen them eliminated instead. Elijah Just did have a couple of nice contributions in amongst, he was his team’s most likely attacking outlet, although it tells you something about the game that the first two instances in which he touches the ball during those extended highlights end with him getting absolutely clattered (once by a shoulder, once in the air).
As for George Stanger and Kilmarnock, they got smacked 3-1 away to Falkirk in the Premiership. They were 3-0 down at half-time. Stanger played the full game, something that’s happened in five of the last six matches for Killie, so it looks like he’s nailed down that starting spot. Kilmarnock have lost four games in a row though, conceding ten times in the process.... hence he might have some work to do to keep himself in that best eleven.
Up Next: Aberdeen vs Motherwell at 4am on Monday (NZT)
Katie Kitching - Sunderland (English Super League 2)
Iiiiiiit’s Katie Kitching...
Lovely goal from Kitch, her third of the season... albeit you may have noticed the scoreline in the top corner there. Sunderland were already 3-0 down when Kitching burst through and scored and they’d end up losing 4-2 against Bristol City with Kitching subbed for the last quarter of an hour. Not great but it was better than the rest of the WSL2 crew where everybody lost this week. Not only that but minutes were way down as the toll of having three Football Ferns games in the space of one window was felt.
Michaela Foster (45 mins) and Hannah Blake (18 mins) were both substitutes as Durham lost 2-1 away to Sheffield United in a disappointing one. This is the only league game that Foster hasn’t started this season. Same deal for Grace Neville at Ipswich Town who got half an hour in a 4-1 loss to Newcastle. Other than Kitching, Indi Riley probably had the best outing with a very bright 20-min cameo off the bench for Crystal Palace in which she had a couple of shots and looked good running at defenders. They lost 2-1 to Portsmouth via a late goal. That combination of results means that in this one-off incredible opportunity where up to three teams could get promoted to an expanded WSL... seven rounds into the season all four clubs with kiwi players are currently in the bottom half.
The aftermath of a busy international window contributed to what’s a fairly short list of women who were in action over the past week. Abby Erceg was quietly efficient in a 4-1 win for Toluca in Mexico which confirmed a fourth-place finish for them heading into the playoffs. But Kate Taylor was rested enough to only be required for a five-minute stint at the end as Dijon held onto a 2-1 win away against Nantes in France. Katie Bowen got half an hour of Inter Milan’s 3-0 loss to Roma. And Emma Pijnenburg was rested entirely for Feyenoord’s 6-1 win vs Heerenveen (a pity as she might have gotten a decent run in a comfortable win like that). Even in the A-League there were instances like Claudia Bunge and Kelli Brown coming off the bench and Deven Jackson not playing at all.
Up Next: Sunderland vs Portsmouth at 3am on Monday (NZT)
Maya Hahn - Viktoria Berlin (German Bundesliga 2)
Maya Hahn started both of NZ’s games against Mexico but she sat out the USA match which gave her a bunch more recovery time and allowed her to line up from the start as Viktoria Berlin hosted Bayern Munich 2... and put the smackdown on them with a 7-0 result. Hahn didn’t pocket any goals or assists. She simply sat deeper in midfield and facilitated things to let the forwards do their jobs. She was subbed with twenty mins remaining and her side already 5-0 up.
Sometimes you get that with the reserve teams where their competitiveness can fluctuate depending on which players are available (for example, whether you catch them before the first team has played or after when fringe players might be released). But regardless that was a massive win following after the 3-0 result against VfL Bochum prior to the FIFA window. Viktoria Berlin had drawn five and lost one to begin the season and now they’ve won two in a row by a combined scoreline of 10-0. Viktoria are up to tenth, only three points adrift of third.
Up Next: Away to Eintracht Frankfurt Reserves at 2am on Monday (NZT)
Moses Dyer - Phnom Penh Crown (Cambodian Premier League)
The AFC Challenge League is the third tier of continental competition in Asia and Moses Dyer absolutely loves it. After scoring against Dewa United (Indonesia) in a 1-1 draw, he bagged braces in a 3-1 win against Shan United (Myanmar) and a 3-2 win against Tainan City (Chinese Taipei). That gives him five goals in three games to lead the Golden Boot ranks at the conclusion of the group stage.
Crown will face compatriots PKR Svay Rieng in the quarter-finals. Dyer also scored twice in qualifying for this tournament when PP Crown won 6-0 against Kasuka FC (Brunei) back in August... all up he’s got 10 goals and 2 assists in 11 matches for the Crown. His move to Cambodia was a controversial one for how it took him off the beaten path right at a time when he was starting to build some momentum towards a possible national team recall but you cannot deny he’s been scoring rolling in goals since he got there.
Up Next: Visakha vs Phnom Penh Crown at 0:00 on Sunday (NZT)
Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
It would have been nice had the NWSL broadcasters done their due diligence and not erased 28 of Ali Riley’s 163 international caps from that graphic but still a cool moment for Ali Riley getting one last professional appearance in Angel City’s final game of the season. On at right-back for the last chunk of stoppage time as they chased a winning goal in what ended as a 2-1 loss away against Chicago Red Stars (they right at the end – it was 1-1 when Riley was subbed on).
The crowd had been chanting “We Want Riley!” leading up to the substitution and she was immediately handed the captain’s armband when she went on. Then within a few minutes she’d gotten herself a bloody nose, getting to finish her career with a tissue jammed up a nostril. What a trooper...
And thus ends a wonderful career. We ran through the highlights in last week’s edition – the Champions League appearances, the transfers to Chelsea and Bayern Munich, the swansong at Angel City. It also leaves Aotearoa’s NWSL connection in a weird place where, after years of having multiple players in this elite competition, we’ll be down to just Milly Clegg in 2026 and we’ll have to see where she fits into Racing Louisville’s plans after only playing 18 minutes in 2024 and spending this year out on loan in Canada.
Macey Fraser came and went. Abby Erceg moved to Mexico. Ali Riley has retired. Katie Bowen revitalised her career at Melbourne City and then got that move to Inter Milan. That wouldn’t be such a concern if the same thing hadn’t also happened in England’s WSL where many years of kiwi involvement suddenly came to an end with nobody on the books there this year. All our best Football Ferns in England are playing second division (though expansion for 2026-27 could help us out there). The world of women’s footy is expanding fast and there are so many more options out there now... but somehow we’ve gotta get these world class clubs signing kiwis again.
Most NWSL Appearances By New Zealanders
| Games | Goals | Clubs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abby Erceg | 205 | 8 | Chicago RS, Western NY Flash, NC Courage |
| Katie Bowen | 91 | 2 | FC Kansas City, Utah Royals, Kansas City Currents, NC Courage |
| Ali Riley | 66 | 3 | Orlando Pride, Angel City |
| Rosie White | 44 | 7 | Boston Breakers, Chicago RS, OL Reign |
| Rebekah Stott | 31 | 0 | Seattle Reign & Sky Blue |
| Macey Fraser | 9 | 0 | Utah Royals |
| Emma Kete | 3 | 0 | Western New York Flash |
| Milly Clegg | 1 | 0 | Racing Louisville |
Up Next: For Ali Riley it seems a safe bet to predict a media career incoming
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