Congrats to Valentine. Where was he after he left Weenix? Worthy of his own thread?
Austrian 3rd tier won't be a great standard with 5 regional leagues, but other guys with threads are probably playing at a similar level.
Pinzgau finished 2nd in their pre Xmas league, 13 points ahead of the team in 3rd, with top two teams "going through to the next round" - a new league of only 6 teams. The winner of this league earns to right to go up to Liga 2. Sounds like some complicated promotion playoff system. Comp restarts in March.
Christian Ziege is a blast from the past. At Brough when I lived in the UK. To show the football world can be small, he spent 12 months as coach of Unterhaching in Liga 3 when Marinovic was there. Actually it looks like he signed big Stef to Unterhaching.
how good is he as a GK? If you had to list the All Whites Gk pecking order from 1-5/10 what would it be?
personally:
1) Marinović
2) Woud
3) Tzanev
4) Crocombe
5) Sail
bit foggy after that and I don’t know Hogg well, but names would include Tracey, Brown, Jones, Paulsen, Basalaj, Hare-Reid, Searle. Hogg a bit older so I bluntly assume he would be better
Riley Peach, young Kiwi kid born 2007, is currently in La Masia! Taradale boy, moved to Barca from Napier Marist last year
Had no clue he existed, until the official FC Barcelona social media accounts went and posted a video of his skills for 30 million followers to see. Well done, 13 year old me would have been absolutely buzzing
Wow great skills! Usually those big academies offer full time, in-residence programmes which incorporate school, training and pastoral care all in one. I'd be surprised if they trained 13 year old less than 4 times a week
Marko Stamenic was two weeks into a trial with Danish Superliga champions FC Copenhagen when the call went out for Kiwis travelling overseas to return home. https://t.co/pFK88lkOmP
former NZ U-20 camp invitee Nikola Bugarčić is now playing his footy for FV Bad Honnef in the German 6th tier. Was previously with Louletano in the Portuguese third tier
former NZ U-20 camp invitee Nikola Bugarčić is now playing his footy for FV Bad Honnef in the German 6th tier. Was previously with Louletano in the Portuguese third tier
No shark, I was looking at a list of players this morning and wondering where in the world Nikola Bugarčić was.
Looked into that David Yoo guy that you and Niche Cache mentioned, coochiee - strange that I don't know the name, but seems he joined Rio Ave at the start of 2018 after a couple of seasons playing NYL for Eastern Suburbs. Played 9 games for Rio Ave's B team (a higher level than Ollie Whyte ever played at, oddly enough) before moving onto third-tier Padroense where he's a first team regular. Honestly a pretty damn decent level for someone who's still 20. No youth national appearances - considering his South Korean background, wonder if he's actually eligible?
where did you get third tier from? - I may not be looking in the right place but all I'm able to find it looks like they are actually a tier below that and play in the regional Porto league
not sure about the standard, the third tier is semi pro and Portugal is similar to countries like the Netherlands and Scotland - take out the top 2 or 3 teams that get huge crowds and your left with the rest making up the numbers - third tier average attendances are in the 100's not dissimilar to NZ. Standard likewise
The advantage that he has is he's in Europe, and a Football mad country
I reckon if he'd shown that much promise and was eligible he'd be on the radar, especially if he played at Eastern Suburbs - was he there when Hay was?
From mrsmils comment above mine (sorry throwing MM under a bus!). I didn't bother to check.
I guess fact that no one seems to know about this David Koo (apart from Nic Robinson - Flying Kiwis), says he didn't perhaps achieve much in NZ, and/or he is really a Korean who came to NZ for a few years high school or something.
Just found that Riley Peach, 13 y/o Napier kid who was recently at Barcelona, has a feature piece on him from L'Equipe! Anyone have a better grasp of French than me?
Moved back to NZ this year joining Ole and seems to be the jewel in their crown. Was pretty highly rated by Barcelona in his time there it seems, was posted showcasing his skills on their main Twitter a while back. Already has a sponsorship deal with sportswear company Kelme
Just found that Riley Peach, 13 y/o Napier kid who was recently at Barcelona, has a feature piece on him from L'Equipe! Anyone have a better grasp of French than me?
Moved back to NZ this year joining Ole and seems to be the jewel in their crown. Was pretty highly rated by Barcelona in his time there it seems, was posted showcasing his skills on their main Twitter a while back. Already has a sponsorship deal with sportswear company Kelme
thats great for the kid, just hope he doesn't become NZ's Freddy Adu......
His videos are impressive but save the juggling for the circus. Looks like his parents run an aggressive Instagram campaign for him. Watch him play a game and he is less than ordinary.
His videos are impressive but save the juggling for the circus. Looks like his parents run an aggressive Instagram campaign for him. Watch him play a game and he is less than ordinary.
1st post and it is to take aim at the parents, plus say the kids is less than ordinary. Nice!
JACK VAN LUIJKEN - GO AHEAD EAGLES (DUTCH EREDIVISIE)
"Nice feature there on a kiwi teenager working his way up the ranks overseas. JVL’s of Dutch parentage, his family emigrating to Aotearoa when he was five, and he came up playing for Onehunga Sports before moving back to the Netherlands for this gig with Go Ahead Eagles. He’s still only 17 years old, a central defender. Chasing the dream and all that. Good stuff."
Did some digging - Estermann is an 18 y/o CB who is signed to Neuchâtel Xamax in the Swiss top tier. Barring injury, he’s played every minute for their U18 side, BEJUNE (a joint club representing all of the Neuchâtel canton) in the top tier of the Swiss U18 league system. He’s also played one game for the U21 side, which plays in the Swiss 5th tier.
Can’t find a single thing online aside from his Transfermarkt etc. pages and his profile on the BEJUNE website. I’ll keep digging - depending on his development, he could be a viable youth option in the coming year or two
✅ Confirmed | Go Ahead Eagles U21 🦅 ⚽ Season 20/21 has been a tough (Corona) but successful season as I made it into the Go Ahead Eagles O21 squad for next season, which is the 2nd team. Big thanks to the people who have supported me and helped me improve this year 💛❤️ pic.twitter.com/ptTp1IXCHp
Max Batchelor has signed for Italian 5th-tier side Castel san Giorgio. Seems liek he was going to sign with Hemel Hempstead in England's 6th tier, but that fell through.
Was always curious, any idea if he’s actually a Kiwi citizen? If so, through heritage or otherwise? I know he came over to the Nix fairly recently
The club post announcing that he signed says he is a New Zealander, obviously not an infallible source but you'd think they'd get his nationality right? Interestingly, the post says Max had been training with the team 'for a few months' before signing. Eccellenza is not a great league. Probably not bad to start off in a new country, but it is a large and regional league and it might be hard to get noticed. Still, it's great that he's taken the plunge so let's hope it goes well for him!
Post here: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1699195586953150&id=679495432256509&m_entstream_source=timeline&__tn__=%2As%2As-R
Just did a spot check on Batchelor. Can't find any infor in him on the Castel San Giorgio Facebook.. He may have left? Nothing about him in their transfer or injury updates...
In one of the stranger NZ football moves, Joey Omotani (23, central/defensive midfielder for West Coast Rangers, one of their bright spots last Northern League season) has signed for Brazilian Espírito Santo state league side CTE Colatina
