This action at 46th mins (2nd half), after only being subbed on in the last mins of the first half.
Guess we find out this weekend if the normal starting GK Krasniqi is long term injured or not. Crucial end to the season for GAIS as they chase European qualification.
Sims gets a run of games and he would come into AWs contention for the Nov window.
Kees Sims was subbed into this game after the GAIS number one suffered a dislocated shoulder that's expected to keep him out for the rest of the season
With five games left and European qualification still a possibility, KS is about to have the biggest month of his career https://t.co/75MDR5HBzK
Ouch, an hour before they got it back in place. A big 6 weeks ahead for Sims. Niche Cache
Mergim Krasniqi: “I tried to brace myself with my left hand but I was too heavy for the shoulder and it burned, there was something that jumped in the shoulder. So far I don't know much. I had an X-ray yesterday and there are no fractures in my skeleton or anything. The next step is to do an MRI. It took an hour to get it back in place. They stood and fought for a long time until they got it. I lay and suffered all the second half but I was on the team bus home. I have to assume that there will be nothing more [for me this season] and will support Sims and the rest of the team so that we reach our goals.”
Sims did concede an equaliser in the 52nd minute but it took a belter of a top corner volley to beat him. This was after AIK had tried and failed to chip him from nearly halfway...
Mjällby are cruising towards the title with an 11-point lead in the Allsvenskan and Hammarby are a further five points clear of anyone else in second. But third place gets European entry too and GAIS may currently be sixth but they’re only two points adrift of AIK with a better goal difference. These are the games that Kees Sims is now in line to play...
Norrköping (H) - 11th
Djurgården (H) - 7th
IF Brommapojkarna (A) - 9th
Östers IF (H) - 14th
Malmö (A) - 5th
That’s the task ahead of him. Sims made eight appearances last season (including one off the bench). He’s gotten three so far this year with the expectation that he’s about to add five more... although he did get a red card in one game last year so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s also the case that the third-choice keeper for next year’s World Cup squad remains up for grabs, hence Sims has that for motivation too. This dude is staring directly ahead into the most consequential month of his career so far.
Has Kees Sims made a third keeper spot in All Whites squad before or has the opportunity not arisen yet? I was expecting him to get the nod ahead of Tzanev this window to be honest, but as things have played out at club level just as well he didn't.
Has Kees Sims made a third keeper spot in All Whites squad before or has the opportunity not arisen yet? I was expecting him to get the nod ahead of Tzanev this window to be honest, but as things have played out at club level just as well he didn't.
No I don't think he's been in an AWs squad before.
Sail, Tzanev & Gray have rotated through that 3rd GK spot of late. Think Sims was no 2 for the Paris Olympics squad, behind Paulsen. Gray the non travelling no 3.
As Niche Cache says a big month ahead for Sims. Once the Swedish season finishes in November, he won't play again until March 2026, and the WC will be quickly approaching. Now is really his audition window
Edit - English clubs (Coventry?) have reportedly been watching him, so if he did impress in the next 5 GAIS games, always a chance of a move in the Jan 2026 window
Has Kees Sims made a third keeper spot in All Whites squad before or has the opportunity not arisen yet? I was expecting him to get the nod ahead of Tzanev this window to be honest, but as things have played out at club level just as well he didn't.
He was GK3 in one of the matches v China in March 2023. Him and Alex Paulsen had a match each as GK3, while also playing a match in the U-23 internationals between the two countries that served as curtain-raisers. But no proper call-up as such.
Geez it has to suck being a young keeper trying to get into the national team and competing for the GK3 spot. Hopefully the likes of Sail and Woud are no longer seen anywhere near the national team, one of them will be a bench sitter this season.
Niche Cache. Will be GAIS's first time in a European competition in 34 years if they qualify.
..............now they’ve put away IF Brommapojkarna 2-0 in the third. Clean sheet for Kees Sims who made four saves (including an outstanding 1v1 save near the end), was excellent with the ball at his feet, swept effectively behind his defensive line, and looked completely assured throughout. The local paper said he was “nearly flawless”.
More class from Kees Sims on the way to a clean sheet victory
GAIS have won three in a row since Sims stepped up as the starter… they’re now just one win away from European qualification #FlyingKiwispic.twitter.com/WELdpPXTLE
Actually see that games verus Parker-Price's Örgryte IS, are GAIS's 2nd but more low key derby. Örgryte IS being seen as an upper class club. Will they both be in the Allsvenskan next season?
As things stand Örgryte IS will play Oster (3rd last in the Allsvenskan) in the pro/rel playoffs. GAIS drawing with Oster overnight. But in reality is still any number of teams who could finish 3rd last.
Some NZ and Gothenburg connection trivia. John Walker famously set the world record for the mile in Gothenburg on August 12, 1975, with a time of 3:49.4. This made him the first person to run the mile in under 3 minutes and 50 seconds. 50 years ago this year. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1429441144951044
Can see Sims nailing down that no 3 GK spot for the World Cup. He did make one bad mistake at the 2023 U20 WC from memory, but mostly he seems immune from the howlers that the likes of Sail and Tzanev make. The latter two also both currently bench keepers at their clubs.
Sims also being younger has more upside. Henry Gray may yet be his biggest challenger for a WC spot.
The issue for Sims is that 33 yr old Mergim Krasniqi, the usual GAIS first choice GK is contracted until the end of the 2027 season. Sims himself contracted to the end of 2028.
It might be that of all the GK options for that 3rd spot behind Paulsen & Crocs, it's the guy with match sharpness who is playing for his club that is picked for the WC.
Mission accomplished. GAIS only drew 1-1 this week against Öster, busting up their three-game win streak since Kees Sims has been starting, but that draw was all they needed to confirm third place with a round to spare and with it qualification to the Europa Conference League next year.
This was a bonkers game between a couple of close rivals. Sims got away with an early one when he tried to punch a corner away but couldn’t get through traffic and then saw a header come back off the post. GAIS took the lead midway through the first half but conceded five minutes before half-time when their defence didn’t deal with a low ball into the area. GAIS hit the crossbar during the second half. Sims made a couple good low saves. GAIS had a runaway in the dying seconds to win the match but and ÖIF defender said nah bro and took a red card for a lunging last man tackle instead. It therefore ended in a slightly controversial draw but the celebrations ensued just the same.
This club was playing in the third tier in 2022. Since then they’ve had consecutive promotions followed by a sixth place finish last year upon their return to the Allsvenskan and now a bronze medal effort. The last time they had a season this successful was in 1989 which was also when they last qualified for continental action (because of the timing of the Swedish seasons, it was the 1990-91 UEFA Cup that they qualified for). The last time they finished better than third in the Allsvenskan was when they won the championship way back in 1954. Kees Sims was the backup keeper for most of the season yet when they needed him to step up across the past month, after Mergim Krasniqi’s shoulder injury, he’s done exactly that.
What happens next remains to be seen. Krasniqi and Sims are both under contract for a few more years so if Sims has got the bug and wants to keep starting games it’ll probably need to be somewhere else - there’s also chat about their coach getting poached away so there’s quite a bit that could be up in the air around this wider situation. But that’s something to worry about later. In the meantime, he’s got one more game this season away against Malmö and then after that it’s off to link up with the All Whites in search of an international debut (and maybe even a spot in the World Cup squad next year if he does well enough).
This is his first proper call-up, although pretty sure he sat on the bench for the senior squad when China came to Aotearoa in 2023 and Sims was part of a corresponding U23s squad. Regardless, this call-up has been long overdue for a bloke playing (albeit sporadically) at a level that’s only recently been matched by Alex Paulsen and Max Crocombe.
Final game of the season and GAIS (3rd) travel to Malmo (6th). GAIS of course will finish the season in 3rd, so a bit of a nothing match up.
Of more interesting is watching overnight to see what Allsvenskan team will finish 3rd last and so play OPP's Orgrytein the pro/rel playoffs, post the International break.
Sims, McCowatt and Bell 3 guys in Scandinavia to all watch for potential moves in the January 2026 window. I think Coventry was the rumoured UK club awhile back interested in Sims. And he's also trialled at other UK clubs.
Kees Sims in 2024: 8 games | 1.53 goals/90 | 66.7% saves | 0 clean sheets
Kees Sims in 2025: 8 games | 1.20 goals/90 | 74.3% saves | 2 clean sheets
Tidy year on year improvements there even just by those basic stats (admittedly he was also playing for a better GAIS team... though they still finished sixth last season). Also no red cards this time around.
From memory Sims played all of last year's pre season in goal for GAIS, then when the Allsvenskan started he was on the pine for 90% of the season, only getting his chance for the final few games when regular no 1 Krasniqi got injured.
Gray will secretly be hoping for a repeat in 2026. Him and Sims basically in a two horse race now a trip to the big dance, and it likely could come down to who is playing club football and who is not.
Wonder if GAIS are playing Sims in goal pre season on merit, or to help his WC selection chances. After all clubs get tidy compensation from having players away at the WC.
Longstanding no 1 GK Krasniqi, not even in match day squads for these Swedish Cup matches.
Kees Sims has been there for a couple years already with GAIS, serving as the second goalkeeper but nonetheless managing 16 appearances across those two seasons. He had a good run to close last season after main man Mergin Krasniqi busted his shoulder with Sims fitting in seamlessly as GAIS finished third and qualified for Europe. The club’s best season in more than three decades. He also launched himself into the All Whites squad during that spell.
GAIS have signed another goalkeeper, 21yo Danish gloveman Andreas Hermansen, but that’s more of future-proofing thing (i.e. insurance if Krasniqi or Sims leaves). He’ll be number three. Krasniqi will remain number one... but he hasn’t actually returned from that shoulder injury yet. He’s very close, slightly ahead of schedule, and might be ready for week one of the league season. But Kees Sims played all three League Cup games last season and it’s probably going to be the same this time. As it was in game one where he got a full match in a 3-0 win against Landskrona. Sweet as.
