From Flying Kiwis. If unvaccinated folks can now enter Qatar, Tzanev must be a chance to upsurp Woud as 3rd keeper (behind Marinovic & Sail).
But Woud & Hay go way back, so can see Woud getting in, even if he is not regularly playing like Tzanev. He's fortunate that this J-League Cup comp with a number of pool games exists. Another Cup game tonight.
Pandemic travel yarns delayed Michael Woud’s entry into Japan by which time the season had already gotten well underway. That complication also meant he wasn’t able to take part in World Cup qualifying with the All Whites, although in the last couple of weeks he has been able to work his way onto the bench for Kyoto Sanga and now, finally, a League Cup group stage game last Wednesday NZT allowed him to make his club debut.
It didn’t start too flash as Woudy conceded twice inside twenty minutes against Consadole Sapporo. Made a good stop from a shot out in front for the first but the follow-up from his left side snuck under him in just the second minute. Didn’t have a hope at stopping the next one as an open header from a corner kick was guided inside a vacant far post.
But Sanga were back in it four mins later thanks to a thumping effort from Shimpei Fukuoka just within the area, a move begun by a Woud long ball forwards. That shrunk the match back into competitive areas. Then eventually they drew level when Quenten Martinus chipped one to the back stick for Keita Nakano to finish off in the 71st. And on 75’ Martinus curled in a beauty himself to put his team in front. What a comeback.
Consadole did have one great chance to tie it back up again as one of their strikers broke the defensive line late on but Woud rushed out and did just enough to force the shot off target, Kyoto Sanga enduring for the 3-2 win. Coming from 2-0 down to take the three points and go top of their Group C standings at the halfway point.
Naoto Kamifukumoto has been the number one keeper for Sanga to date, the 32 year old starting seven of their nine J-League games (including a 2-0 win over Kashiwa Reysol in the subsequent fixture) with 22yo Tomoya Wakahara filling in twice while Kamifukumoto was suspended after a red card.
The previous two League Cup games saw Wakahara as well as fourth-choice Gakuji Ota split the starts so it’s a pretty bloody crowded goalkeeping room at this club, that’s for sure. It does appear that Woud is the second choice for now but with a few more of these cup games he should keep getting opportunities to stake his claim for firsties.
Up Next: The reverse cup fixture away to Consadole Sapporo at 10pm on Weds (NZT)