The Confederations Cup marks a rare opportunity to play against the world’s best as a reward for having beaten Papua New Guinea on penalties. Part of that deal means we have to play Mexico... again.
It’s an Under-20 World Cup, right? Things need to be kept in context and the Young All Whites had already exceeded expectations – or at least met them – in making their way into the knockouts.
The Confederations Cup is pretty much a dress rehearsal for the next World Cup host. That would be Russia and the All Whites were lucky enough to draw the Russians in their group – although the Russians were also lucky enough to draw the New Zealanders.
Coming into this tournament, the aim would’ve been for the Junior All Whites to find their way out of their group. No dramas how it happened but after doing so on home soil in 2015, it was time to get there on foreign soil in 2017.
The Premier League has become an especially feisty division lately. Blame Leicester City. They caught the lot of them sleeping at the wheel and the resulting wake-up call has seen pretty much every other title-relevant team snap to attention.
Get it in ya, mate. The All Whites squad for the Confederations Cup build up has been named and she’s an interesting beast, that’s for sure.
It was a season that began as open as any in recent history. New managers in Manchester, with Chelsea and Liverpool coming off terrible campaigns the time before. Spurs carrying the damage of their poor finish in the last title race...
Exactly what we’ve been waiting to hear, gotta love it. And who, you may ask, is this new manager? Yeah that’s the thing… they’re not saying.
They signed the right manager and they bought the right players. Even Michy Batshuayi, hardly a factor all campaign, was able to pop up with the goal that secured the title.
Several have already gone on to play for the All Whites and several more will probably do so in the future after getting themselves professional deals around the place. Here are the continuing stories of the 21 jokers that represented Aotearoa at the 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup…
Winston Reid: “It turned into a game that we really didn’t want. They are really good. They have good quality players and have a lot of speed. Everything went wrong.
The FIFA Under 20 World Cup. It’s always a fascinating competition… although you already know that because New Zealand hosted the last one. Ah yes, what an outstanding spectacle it was too.
Hopefully you took the hints from the last few games of the season and said farewell to Welly Nix keeper Glen Moss while you had the chance because he’s just signed a contract with the Newcastle Jets. Speaking of the Jets, guess who their new manager is gonna be?
After a day off following Arsenal’s rather important 2-0 win over Southampton, we now enter some kind of Twilight Zone of football. It’s like stumbling into some eerie fantasy world where everything is just a little too perfect to be true.
Did you know there’s a FIFA Under-20 World Cup on later this month? Well, mate, you do now. They did the draw a little while back and this week the squad was named… a pretty strong squad at that.
Count it as goal #30 for Chris Wood's season, a massive milestone. His 27th in the Championship which is four more than anyone else ended up with. He won the Golden Boot with ease in the end.
A new stadium, an embarrassing European exit, selling their best player, lots of injuries, dodgy transfer returns, Premier League slumps, various formations, no right back, goalkeeping switcharoos, managerial pressure…
It won’t win them the league this week… but it’ll get them ever closer. Seeing Hazard and company tear up Everton last week, that was the last major hurdle. The last team that could beat them on their own terms.
A few weeks ago, New Zealand Football unveiled their new plans for growing the playing base of the Football Ferns beneath the professional ranks. The Football Ferns Development Programme, it was aptly named.
Captain Winston was there to play again, leading the lads out of the tunnel away to Stoke City as they looked to build on a 0-0 draw against Everton in his return. Build on it… how about repeat it exactly?