great to see Nathan Walker from Fencibles in there! He's a skillful winger, scores a few goals. Less glamourous club, but great youth programme in place
Squad named for a warm up tournament in Japan in the lead up to the World Cup. IMG_5448.jpeg437.62 KBLeuluai and Watson return. A player called Noah DuPont from West Brom also called up, I haven’t heard of him before.
My guess is that we'll be seeing a lot more of this type of pick up going forward, especially coming out of the UK where there are already 60,000-70,000 Kiwi expats.
I know nothing about the kid, but if he's at a Championship level academy and already involved in their U18 Premier League set up then he's receiving a very solid football education from the get go.
Should have also picked up that he'd started following the NZ U17 hudl page about a week ago too...
Excellent to see Marley & Watson involved too for what should be a real test of the squad ahead of the World Cup in November.
Shout out to Nathan Walker too, no mean feat that. 👏 Someone can probably correct me on this too, but his selection today makes him the 1st Fencibles player to be selected to a New Zealand squad of any kind?
Squad named for a warm up tournament in Japan in the lead up to the World Cup. IMG_5448.jpeg437.62 KBLeuluai and Watson return. A player called Noah DuPont from West Brom also called up, I haven’t heard of him before.
My guess is that we'll be seeing a lot more of this type of pick up going forward, especially coming out of the UK where there are already 60,000-70,000 Kiwi expats.
I know nothing about the kid, but if he's at a Championship level academy and already involved in their U18 Premier League set up then he's receiving a very solid football education from the get go.
Should have also picked up that he'd started following the NZ U17 hudl page about a week ago too...
Excellent to see Marley & Watson involved too for what should be a real test of the squad ahead of the World Cup in November.
Shout out to Nathan Walker too, no mean feat that. 👏 Someone can probably correct me on this too, but his selection today makes him the 1st Fencibles player to be selected to a New Zealand squad of any kind?
Matt Palmer and Sione Fa'apoi would have him beat for the U17s. Fencibles also had a mean women's program for a while and had a fair few senior Football Ferns iirc (including Abby Erceg, Anna Green, Vic Esson)
Also, Victor Barbosa looks a great player. Spent some time with Cruzeiro last year
Based off a few insta accounts, it looks like the U17 cohort have started assembling in Japan for their three upcoming warm up matches as preparation for the U17 World Cup in November/December.
Should be a good test for the side, with matches against a Niigata regional side, Japan U17 & Venezuela U17. Here's hoping there is a bit of coverage of the side while they're over there.
International youth football is currently taking place in Niigata, Japan, and live streaming can be watched here. Right now Japan vs Venezuela is playing, and later NZ vs Niigata selection can also be watched live streaming from here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvqnnhD4ciA
Early 🟨 for Noah Dupont - Niigata winger got goal side of him down the right hand flank, Dupont drags him back for the most obvious yellow card you'll ever see.
#11 (Pretty sure it's Nathan Walker) looks decent when we've managed to get forward - tricky and looked our most lively avenue in the final third, not that we're getting much change up top to be fair. Like his aggression and energy to try and win 2nd phase ball high up the pitch too.
#13 (someone fill me in) is getting skinned alive down the right, so it's pulling Dupont out of position. All at sea at the back to be fair.
0-2 now... Was a lovely move, but we were just watching them pass there...
#11 (Pretty sure it's Nathan Walker) looks decent when we've managed to get forward - tricky and looked our most lively avenue going forward. Like his aggression and energy to try and win 2nd phase ball high up the pitch.
#13 (someone fill me in) is getting skinned alive down the right, so it's pulling Dupont out of position. All at sea at the back to be fair.
0-2 now... Was a lovely move, but we were just watching them pass there...
#13 is Victor Barbosa, absolutely no idea why he's there at LB and not on the wing but oh well
#11 (Pretty sure it's Nathan Walker) looks decent when we've managed to get forward - tricky and looked our most lively avenue going forward. Like his aggression and energy to try and win 2nd phase ball high up the pitch.
#13 (someone fill me in) is getting skinned alive down the right, so it's pulling Dupont out of position. All at sea at the back to be fair.
0-2 now... Was a lovely move, but we were just watching them pass there...
#13 is Victor Barbosa, absolutely no idea why he's there at LB and not on the wing but oh well
Sorry, meant LB. Sleep deprivation, pregnant missus and night shift will get ya.
Although I am watching this at work, so it can't be all bad. 😂
I know it's hard to read it all in Japanese, but 13 of the Niigata selections are from Teikyo Nagaoka High School, a strong school in Niigata, five are from the Albirex Niigata Academy of the J-League and two are from other high schools. They have a few high school seniors, but they are still 17 years old新潟選抜メンバー.jpeg219.2 KB
Second half better from us. Still a bit shaky at the back and a couple of turnovers in poor areas, but a lot better than that first half where quite frankly, we weren't even at the races.
Second half subs made. Sloan Rodrigues with a few runs. Almost set up a goal with that first run too. Looks like he's gone out to the LW and Walker has come over to the RW now.