People, we’re living rent-free on controversy corner right now. The kiwi U20 lads were up to some magical things in Poland and were on the brink of history when keeper Michael Woud pounced to his left to deny Andres Perea for Colombia. It was Woud’s third straight save to start the shootout.
Two games in the space of a few days with promotion to the top flight on the line. Nikko Boxall’s Viborg finished second on the ladder by a single point and so were confident coming into it against Hobro but their opponents weren’t about to phone it in and be relegated just like that. Gotta earn it.
All you can do in these tournaments, in this sport, in all of life, is to put yourself in the best position to succeed and the rest is up to fate/luck/spiritual providence. The kiwi lads did that. They showed up and competed at a level that we’ve never seen from a New Zealand side at a FIFA tournament (definitely not a men’s side, at least).
After losing 5-0 to the USA a bit over a week ago, you’d have been forgiven for thinking the Footy Ferns were in for similar treatment against another World Cup contender as they faced England in Brighton. Instead it turned out to be the best result the Fernies have had for at least a couple years.
The lads went down to a 2-0 defeat against Uruguay, which doesn’t do too much damage to things on the surface but it was a disappointing result and a game which wasn’t really worth getting up for especially when you’d already stayed up later than you meant to watching cricket.
Following on from the Honduras win which showcased what they could do at their best, we had a very different challenge in a well-organised Norway side that wasn’t going to allow themselves to be carved open in the first half hour the way that New Zealand did to their last opponents.
Shout out to Bill Tuiloma, who just started his tenth game in a row, the longest streak he’s had for the club, and he’s the only Timbers player to have played every minute of those ten games.
It feels like just yesterday that we were meeting Mark Rudan for the first time. An unproven but driven personality with a strong reputation within the Aussie game coming across the ditch for his first gig at managing an A-League side.
Honduras versus New Zealand, first game of the group stage for both, 4am in Aotearoa for us hardy jokers. Could they step it up when it really mattered? Mate, could they ever.
If the Ferns hit rock bottom a year ago amidst the disastrous reign of a coach who shall not be named beneath the disastrous reign of a chief executive officer who shall not be named… then it’s also fair to say that they’ve made quick and significant progress under Tom Sermanni ever since.
There’s a men’s U20 World Cup starting in a few days and you should probably be excited about it. With quite possibly the strongest pool of age-group players New Zealand has ever had for one of these things, even Des Buckingham’s squad announcement felt like a Moment and based on their preparation for this thing this set of lads could genuinely be the real deal.
The Football Ferns played on Friday afternoon. The North Carolina Courage played the Utah Royals on Monday afternoon. Both in America, mind, but too short a recovery period for the two kiwis involved in both games? Not at all.
Although the news came as no surprise, it was still a bit of a downbuzz. Tyler Boyd has officially changed his allegiance through FIFA to the United States, which is a card they only let you play once as a senior international… thus his chances of ever playing for the All Whites again are officially 0.00%.
A 5-0 defeat is not exactly the result you want to see as you ramp up your preparation for the World Cup but that’s what the Football Ferns were served up against the USA in St Louis. Five goals and that puts a sudden halt to some of that recent momentum.
The final day of the Premier League season wasn’t quite as dramatic as we’d hoped. There were no late goals that mattered, the two teams scrapping it out at the top both won comfortably enough – although Man City copped a scare in the first half – and it was all kinda predictable in the end.
Roy Krishna did something rather impressive last night. Or maybe a better way to put that is that Roy Krishna did something rather impressive for the entirety of the A-League season and last night was rewarded for it.
Guess who was at it again? Seventeenth minute of the game, Istanbul Basaksehir vs Ankaragücü, and Tyler Boyd cuts inside with a few stepovers, a few shimmies of the shoulder, and then smack right into the bottom corner. That’s his fifth goal to go with his four assists this season and he only joined the club in January. What a lovely goal it was too.
This season changed suddenly when word broke that Mark Rudan’s long expected departure was the real deal. The Nix had just lost a mud one 3-1 away to Adelaide and were about to lose an even more mud one 2-1 away to Brisbane Roar.
Wembley Stadium. The FA Cup Final. It’s all a bit of a dream for a young footy player growing up in Aotearoa, male or female, but Ria Percival made it history as she became the first New Zealander to play on that fabled stage in that fabled cup.
Talay hadn’t been the only person publically linked to the job and given the Nix’s track record you’d be forgiven for thinking it might be a while before next season’s priorities got dealt with. But lo and behold, just after 9am on Saturday morning the Welly Nix threw it all out there: Ufuk Talay was confirmed as the head coach for the 2019-20 season.