Why not aspire to it?
If 16 years since the last world cup when few had done much in Europe.
We've had kids early twenties in Serie A and Ligue 1 and one of the best in the Premier League for two seasons and a 21yo recently captaining his MLS side - a top 10 league in the world,
With 3-4 professional academies and pathways in NZ and kiwis stock rising abroad, our players are only going in one direction.
If 16 years since the last world cup when few had done much in Europe.
We've had kids early twenties in Serie A and Ligue 1 and one of the best in the Premier League for two seasons and a 21yo recently captaining his MLS side - a top 10 league in the world,
With 3-4 professional academies and pathways in NZ and kiwis stock rising abroad, our players are only going in one direction.
For sure aspire to it. I think Surman could maybe get there. Phil Neville will be inspiring him with stories of the Man U glory Ferguson years.
But as someone posted above, it's just so bloody hard to ever become a starter at a big club that plays regularly in the UCL, which is basically what we are talking about. You need to be cream of the cream level, in a sport that takes many of the world's best athletes.
I mean sure there are more and better organised academies and pro pathways now in little NZ, but the same will be true of much of the (under developed) football world. Countries that have countless academies and certainly more than just 2 (or 4?) full time professional teams, so literally hundreds of young players in what 100 plus(?) countries each training full time dreaming the Euro football dream.
Euro clubs for example know Africa is a potential huge and ever growing cheap pipeline of talent. I mean what was the % of African players in the EPL now, compared to 20 years ago? Even Burnley now has players of colour! It's just a shreer weight of numbers game.