It’s important to keep the context of these Canadian friendlies in mind. They’re the first games with new manager Jitka Klimková in charge and she’s only got half her first-choice squad. Not only that but…
This is what Joe Bell does. Week after week. It was the 29th minute of the game away against Strømsgodset, one of VFK’s many games against teams below them on the ladder down the stretch of the season, and Bell won the ball back out on the right edge…
The whole conundrum that the Fernies find themselves in is that they’re far too good for Oceania but not yet good enough for major tournaments. The jump between those two standards is huge and they rarely get to properly test themselves against teams of a similar level.
The last time the All Whites played against Bahrain, the kiwi team won 1-0 via a header off a wing-back’s cross by the son of a well known NZ sporting personality. Almost exactly a dozen years later the same damn thing happened again.
It has not, it’s fair to say, been a good couple weeks for the NWSL. For the North Carolina Courage in particular. It was their coach who was fired after allegations of past misconduct emerged, allegations which brought into focus the frankly shocking rate of scandal in America’s top professional women’s soccer competition
What is there to be gained from a couple of sneaky friendlies at this time? For starters there’s the obvious one of ending a 692 day hiatus between fixtures for the men’s national team of Aotearoa, that’s a pretty significant one
The leaves are back on the trees. The temperature is rising. Cricketers are starting to lay claim to the local fields again. All that can only mean one thing: it’s nearly time for National League football to begin.
PSV had been bossing the contest and needed something different to break the frustration. An hour gone and it was still 0-0. Off came Ritsu Doan and Marko van Ginkel and on came Carlos Vinicius and Ryan Thomas.
The Wellington Phoenix’s task ahead was already tough enough. For the third straight season they’re going to have to spend a large chunk of it based in Australia away from home crowds, not to mention friends and family.
A midweek trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal in front of 50,000 fans was definitely right up there in the Choice Bro rankings for AFC Wimbledon… and for kiwi goalie Nik Tzanev.
Once upon a time there was no way that you could have ever picked a New Zealand football team, male or female, worthy of the international stage built entirely from players based outside Australia and Aotearoa. But these days aren’t the old days.
On the same day that Aucklanders moved out of level four lockdown and could finally wrap their mouths around those twelve secret herbs and spices again, Winston Reid cleared out his locker and packed up his desk at West Ham HQ to seek out new footballing pastures
Another week, another top of the table clash, another game in which Elijah Just and Callum McCowatt were absolutely full of delights. FC Fredericia were the opponents with both teams entering on 20 points after eight games.
Liberato Cacace made his senior international debut in June 2018 and still only has three caps. Compare that to Winston Reid’s buddy at West Ham, Declan Rice, who made his debut for England in March 2019 and has 26 caps with a couple goals to his name already.
Three wins and a draw despite some tricky fixtures in August, with Joe Bell playing every minute and contributing a goal and an assist... it’s not gone unnoticed. Player of the Month for the entire Eliteserien, mate. Bellinho putting them all on notice.
The Football Ferns have a new manager. Jitka Klimková was announced last week as the successor to Tom Sermanni and given a hefty six year contract that’ll take her through the co-hosted 2023 World Cup right up until the next one in 2027 with an Olympics in between.
The English Women’s Super League is underway and there are two Flying Kiwis in the mix: Anna Leat is the newest addition to the crew while Ria Percival is the record NZ appearance maker in this comp by a country mile, back for another crack with Tottenham Hotspur.
Flying Kiwis Transfer Season was about more than a few frantic hours of deals. It was about an entire month’s worth of moves. In between the Olympics and now it’s just been one transfer after another, top tier kiwi footballers on the up and up and up.
When Ufuk Talay took over as manager of the Wellington Phoenix he spoke about recruitment. In his words, 70% of successful coaching is about recruitment and the other 30% is motivation and tactics.
Then came the goal. James Tarkowski had just hit the crossbar with a header and the ball stayed alive, leading to a Matt Lowton shot that Wood cheekily diverted past the keeper. A small touch but a decisive one.