NZ all the way!
Football fans around Australia were left disappointed as there was no announcement from the offices at 1n Oxford Street at the end of the day on Wednesday. There are six remaining bids that have been harboring hopes of gaining an entrance into the Australian A-League and they were left facing a nervous wait as Football Federation Australia’s board deliberated over expansion of the A-League but only ended up hinting on a potential further delay on an announcement.
New Zealand national team coach Fritz Schmid wants to see some improvement from his players. The coach who took charge of the team in February said that there is still a lot of work to be done before turning New Zealand into a competitive team. The good news is that Fritz Schmid has plenty of time as the senior team will have their first official competition in 2020 and he still has a lot of time to tweak things around.
Usain Bolt was the yardstick in Athletics after riding on a long stretch of success during his time on the track. But there has been enough dirt on the road for the retired sprinter, whose transition to football has begun to go downhill. Bolt announced his retirement from athletics, after enjoying long bouts of success in the competition–a news that stirred mixed reactions among fans.
New Zealand international Ryan Thomas has completed a summer move to Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven. The All Whites midfielder has put pen-to-paper on a four-year contract with the Eredivisie holders following five seasons with mid-table club PEC Zwolle, where he made 143appearances across all competitions. Speaking to PSV’s official website, the 23-year-old spoke about his progress at Zwolle and he is hopeful of making the next step in his career with the reigning champions, he said: “I am really looking forward to working at a higher level I think it’s time to take the next step in my development. I learned a lot at Zwolle. The fact that I can now show what I have in store at a top club like PSV is fantastic.”
The New Zealand female national team is poised to clash with their Japanese counterparts in June, as per reports. The Ferns wants to test their abilities against the World No. 11 in a friendly ahead of their World Cup qualification bid set for later in the year. The one-off friendly game is expected to happen on June 10 in Wellington. The New Zealand side is ranked 20th in the World Football Ranking so they set out to prepare by facing strong sides.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche has spoken fondly about the club’s strikers in the aftermath of the 1-1 draw against Stoke City. Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood have been the main strike combination for Dyche upfront and Dyche was particularly pleased with the form of the latter, who netted his sixth goal in eight appearances. Speaking after the game, he said: “Barnesy is alive to the chance, and as a striker that’s what you want.You want good goals, every striker does, but you take anything. I saw Harry Kane arguing (over a goal) and people questioning that. Why would you question that? Top strikers want goals, that’s the thirst and hunger you want from your strikers, trust me. I think our strikers have that.”
Fritz Schmid was recently appointed as the latest New Zealand coach. The Swiss manager replaces Anthony Hudson, who has been in charge of the role over the last couple of years. The 58-year-old manager does not have top-level experience, but he should be more than enough to guide New Zealand to major success in the coming years. The team faced disappointment with regard to reaching the World Cup 2018. After having done well to reach the south of the World Cup a couple of years ago, New Zealand has been disappointed in the subsequent editions. The team failed to qualify for Brazil 2014 and the same fate has fallen upon them for the 2018 edition.
West Ham United manager David Moyes has revealed that club-captain Winston Reid may not return until the Premier League outing versus Liverpool at the end of the month. The New Zealand international has made good progress from a groin strain sustained last month, but he is ruled out for the Watford game this weekend with throat infection and a lack of match fitness. Moyes said: “We don’t have an awful lot back in the long term. We’re getting close to having all the short-term injured back. Jose Fonte is back and needs some practice matches and we have a couple of others, Winston Reid one of them, who are close, but others like Pedro and one or two others like Edi Fernandes who are going to be out for longer.”
New West Ham United manager David Moyes has revealed that he has very less option but to play Winston Reid against Watford this weekend. The centre-back will be making the long trip from South America following New Zealand’s 2-0 defeat to Peru in the World Cup playoff which will see them miss next year’s tournament in Russia. Ahead of his first match in charge of West Ham, Moyes spoke about the need to play Reid with the likes of José Fonte and James Collins in the treatment room, he said: “Winston Reid will be the last one back today and in a perfect world we maybe wouldn’t use him on Sunday. We’re a bit short in central defence so we’ll see how he is.”
Anthony Hudson has revealed that he is left impressed by the fitness of his squad ahead of the friendly with Japan. After the recent World Cup qualifying matches against Solomon Islands, the manager took a decision to send Dane Ingham away from the squad as he felt that the defender was not fit for selection. Other players who were left out of the squad include Bill Tuiloma, who also faced the similar issue. As a result, there was a lot of speculation that Hudson was not coming up with the correct fitness regime in order to get the players in shape for the crucial World Cup qualifiers. However, the manager has revealed that the group has done excellent progressing with regard to fitness compared with the last set of matches. He says that every player should be in a great condition in order to be eligible for selection. Hudson says […]