Tell you what, Team Wellington might have played up the underdog tag before their Club World Cup playoff with Al Ain, and it may have technically been their first ever competitive match against a professional club or against a club from another confederation, but they sure didn’t play like it.
Christmas came early for Mark Rudan, thanks to his very own Santa Claus in the form of Roy Krishna. The three goals he’s scored in the last two games, taking him past Paul Ifill as the club’s all-time top scorer and earning the club four valuable points, were great.
Riley came close to scoring her first goal for Chelsea too but it wasn’t quite to be. Still, just playing at all so soon after flying literally halfway around the world was one heck of an effort. 40 hours mate, that’s gutsy. And she’s not the only one on this list who did that either.
By this stage of the season the hierarchy has been pretty well set. We know which teams are expected to finish in the top three, we know which teams are battling for that fourth spot, we know which teams are playing for pride and experience and we know which team is the Wellington Phoenix reserves.
Right from the kickoff they were the hungrier team. There was a fire in the eyes of the lads, they fought harder, ran further, jumped higher, and kicked the ball better than Sydney FC. They pressed high up the field, the two strikers leading the way, and put their hosts under all sorts of pressure.
A year ago if you knew who Libby Cacace was then it’s probably because you were going to school with him. Sarpreet Singh was at least a known name back then but he was known because he was the dude that fans were calling out in vain to see given a chance in the first team.
It was a bit of a forgone conclusion when a team as strong as this one hit up New Caledonia but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot to learn from the tournament. In fact there was so much to learn that here’s a whole article about conclusions and impressions from the ONC2018 journey.
With Mabiala unable to go that meant Bill Tuiloma would be getting the start for this massive game. Huge pressure but he’s earned it by constantly stepping up when needed in 2018, proving a reliable reserve and a more than decent replacement starter. Sweet as.
You know who deserves a trophy? Ricki Herbert. No points for drawing games at a World Cup, nor for beating what, let’s be honest, wasn’t even a very good Bahrain side… but turning Hamilton Wanderers into a competitive team in the Premmy? Mate, that’s worth all the honours combined.
What happens when an immovable object meets another immovable object? They start moving, apparently. For 55 minutes this was the best the Welly Nix have played all season.
It’s not like the outcome was going to be in much doubt either way against a team they beat 10-0 a week ago, but you have to admire the Footy Ferns for taking nothing for granted.
It took 21 seconds for the Football Ferns to take the lead in the semi-final. Twenty-one seconds. New Caledonia ran the ball down the left from the kickoff and Ria Percival won it back off them down by the kiwi goalline.
We begin this week with the mighty Kauri tree that is Christopher Wood, whose Burnley side took on Newcastle United at Turf Moor on Tuesday morning NZT… delaying Flying Kiwis this week so as to include its headliner. Anything for The Woodsman…
The televised games schedule in this comp is massively flawed and skewed pretty much towards wherever is the closest to the home base studios so they don’t have to carry those expensive cameras anywhere dangerous (like the South Island)… but they got it spot on this week.
It was still looking alright as we neared half-time… and then it all fell to tiny little pieces shattered on the marble floor. Thirty seconds short of stoppage time and it ain’t like the Nix had been flawless at the back but they were mostly good value for the 1-0 lead (cheers to Filip Kurto, who is proving a top notch keeper).
Tom Sermanni made eight changes for the game against the Cook Islands, giving a mostly second-string team a good old workout. Up against Fiji for top place in the group, Sermanni made eight more.
There’s a lot to be gained from a very timely tour like this. For one thing, any extended amount of time working with the coaches in camp is valuable, let alone when the head coach has only recently taken over. Plus hanging out on the beach in the sun on recovery days is basically guaranteed to restore morale to the squad after some tough times.
There are always ways the league can be better but public criticism only feeds into the view that it’s not worth the attention. The media shapes those ideas. Premmy Files has always been about giving positive coverage to the competition. Positive coverage feeds positive interaction.
Can you hear the echoes in the hallways? The house creaking and shuddering as if haunted by the silence within? That’s because it’s an international window for the male players and all the Football Ferns, while not in an international window, are away in New Caledonia for the Nations Cup.
It was a shocking bit of news when South Korea withdrew from their proposed friendly against Australia in Brisbane just a few days out from the match. It was to have been Graham Arnold’s second game in charge of the Socceroos…