It’s been another exciting period for the overseas-based New Zealanders with several singled out for their outstanding performances.

In England, Chris Wood has continued to make a huge impact for high-flying Burnley since his comeback from injury, returning to the starting line-up against former club West Bromwich Albion and finding the target yet again in a 2-1 win. That strike from close range was his fourth goal in three games but he was not able to maintain his scoring streak over the weekend as Burnley kept their European hopes alive with another 2-1 triumph, this time over Watford. Wood has now had a hand in more Premier League goals this season than any other Burnley player, notching eight strikes himself and one assist. His efforts have earned him a nomination for the official Premier League Player of the Month for March, joining some illustrious company in the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Mohamed Salah and David Silva. The Clarets are five points behind sixth-placed Arsenal and remain in the hunt for a historic Europa League place. All Whites captain Winston Reid meanwhile continues to recover from injury but would have been pleased to see West Ham United pick up a point in a 1-1 draw at Chelsea that puts them six points clear of the relegation zone.

Outside of the top flight, Nik Tzanev returned to League One outfit AFC Wimbledon after his international duty with the All Whites – he was an unused substitute in the 1-0 loss to Canada – and spoke positively about the experience. “It was amazing to go away with the national team, it filled me with tremendous pride and honour,” he said. “It had been a while since I’d been away representing New Zealand at under-20 level, two-and-a-half years ago, so it was a good experience for me and it will stay with me. It was really good to get in that professional environment and be there 24/7, with all new coaches and the boys I haven’t seen in a while. I think I’ve managed to impress them, so I’ll do my best in training now and upcoming games to get another call-up.” The 21-year-old has been playing mainly for the Dons’ development team and will be targeting some first-team opportunities in the tail-end of the season.

Also looking to break into the side at a League One club is Clayton Lewis, who likewise was in the All Whites squad for the Canada match and played for over an hour. His Scunthorpe United side travelled down to the capital to take on Tzanev’s Wimbledon over the weekend but neither Kiwi was involved in the 1-1 draw. After a strong first half of the season, Scunthorpe have now not won for 10 matches and are ninth but remain just one point off the play-off spots. Nearer the other end of the table a division lower are Morecambe, for whom Steven Old took his usual place in the centre of defence but couldn’t prevent a 3-0 loss to Cheltenham Town. Old again played a full match in mid-week as the Shrimps squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with bottom-of-the-table Chesterfield. 

In the women’s game, Olivia Chance is building up to one of the biggest games of her life with Everton set to take on Arsenal in the semi-finals of the FA Women’s Cup this Sunday. The Football Ferns midfielder has emerged as an important figure for the Toffees in recent months but started on the bench for the FA Women’s Super League clash at Sunderland. She was introduced just past the hour with the score locked at 1-1 as manager Andy Spence made a double change in search of the winner. But a deciding goal did not arrive as Everton warmed up for their all-important meeting with the Gunners with a hard-fought point. Fellow Fern Anna Green also had to be content with a substitute’s role, coming on for the final five minutes as Reading earned a 2-0 upset over second-placed Manchester City. In front of watching England women’s manager Phil Neville, the Royals again took points from a title-chasing team after earlier drawing with table-topping Chelsea. Sandwiched between those results was a 3-0 success over Yeovil Town in mid-week, in which Green played the full 90 minutes in defence. There were also a couple of Football Ferns in action in mainland Europe, where Betsy Hassett took the field but was not able to celebrate a win as her KR Reykjavik side fell 2-1 to HK/Vikingur in the cup in Iceland. Fellow midfielder Jana Radosavljevic enjoyed a more pleasing day, playing for just over 70 minutes as BV Cloppenburg recorded a 3-1 win over Herforder SV in Germany.

Over in Portugal, Tyler Boyd continued his recent sharpness in front of goal with another strike that helped CD Tondela to a 2-2 draw against Portimonense in the Primeira Liga. The fleet-footed winger used his trademark pace to beat a pair of defenders to the ball at the near post and prod home for his fourth goal of the campaign. That gave Tondela a 2-1 lead at the break but they conceded within ten minutes of the restart and had to settle for a point. Boyd took part for most of the match before being replaced with a quarter of an hour remaining. Ryan Thomas likewise did not manage to complete a full 90 minutes in the Dutch top flight, making way just past the hour as PEC Zwolle were edged out 3-2 by relegation-threatened Roda JC, for whom All Whites legend Ivan Vicelich used to star. Zwolle have not been at their best for some time and have now lost three of their last four matches but remain in sixth place.

Across the Atlantic in America, it’s been a quiet week for the Football Ferns contingent as the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) had a brief hiatus for the international break. Just before the break though, three New Zealanders were in action and two took on each other in the same game. It was the battle of the Kiwi centre backs as Rebekah Stott lined up in the middle of the Sky Blue FC defence and Abby Erceg did likewise for North Carolina Courage. It was the latter who earned bragging rights over her international team mate, playing a starring role as the Courage carved out a narrow 1-0 victory. Stott’s frustration boiled over with five minutes left on the clock as she picked up a yellow card. Erceg received plenty of praise for her performance with the match report on the club’s website pointing out that “Sky Blue did not record a single shot on target, a testament to the job done by the Courage back four of Hinkle, right back Merritt Mathias, and centre backs Abby Erceg and Abby Dahlkemper”. With Rosie White still recovering from a long-term injury, the only other Kiwi in action was Katie Bowen, who played for an hour as her Utah Royals had a scoreless stalemate against the Houston Dash. It was a historic moment for the Royals as it was the newly-formed franchise’s first ever clean sheet.

While the women enjoyed a weekend off after that, the men were as busy as ever as the early stages of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season continued to unfold. Several New Zealanders have already made a big impact and leading the way is Bill Tuiloma, who endured several frustrating years out of the limelight at French giants Olympique de Marseille but now appears to have found his feet Stateside at the Portland Timbers. Impressively, he is currently keeping former English Premier League defender Liam Ridgewell out of the starting line-up and made the most of his opportunity a fortnight ago by being named in the MLS Team of the Week. He followed that up with another start in a match that involved three Kiwis as the Timbers took on Chicago Fire, who again fielded rookie Elliot Collier. The versatile Tuiloma and goalkeeper Jake Gleeson both lined up against Collier and the honours were shared in a 2-2 draw. Collier tried to beat his countryman Gleeson in the first half when bursting into the box from the left but his shot was from a tricky angle and fizzed over the bar. The big striker spoke recently about his rapid rise to MLS level and admits his instant success has taken even himself by surprise. “I didn’t expect this but I’m happy with how everything’s going,” he said. “Scoring goals is a big part and I want to be getting assists. I just want to be getting minutes and basically making the most of this first year.”

Gleeson and Tuiloma both kept their places for Portland’s trip to Orlando City over the weekend and each made into it the highlights reel. Tuiloma opened his account with a first ever MLS goal, the All White athletically heading in a free kick from just outside the six-yard box, while Gleeson pulled off a great save from point-blank range just before the break. Unfortunately, the pair’s heroics counted for little as the Timbers gave up a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 in dramatic fashion late on. “We played so well for 80 minutes and then we gave it away,” admitted Gleeson. “We didn't have the fight and desire that we needed to finish the game out. This one is hard.” He and Tuiloma will come up against a fellow Kiwi again this weekend when the Timbers host Michael Boxall’s Minnesota United, who were not in action last weekend. All Whites goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic did take to the field for the Vancouver Whitecaps but was left empty-handed after a 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake. He is the only New Zealander on the club’s books at the moment with Myer Bevan loaned out to Swedish side Husqvarna FF – where former All White Joel Stevens also plays – while draft pick Cory Brown recently signed for Fresno in the United Soccer League (USL). Brown debuted for his new club at centre back in a 1-1 draw against Saint Louis while elsewhere in the USL Kyle Adams took full part for Rio Grande Valley in a 2-1 loss at Colorado Springs Switchbacks.

Back in the MLS, Kip Colvey was finally able to make his first appearance for the Colorado Rapids after missing most of the pre-season due to injury. That meant Anthony Hudson was able to give starts to a ground-breaking three New Zealanders – Colvey was joined by fellow fullback Deklan Wynne and Tommy Smith – as the former All Whites coach led his charges to a 1-1 draw at FC Dallas. Smith had a hefty hand in the Rapids goal, the experienced All Whites defender launching a long ball down field that caused carnage before Joe Mason fired in via a deflection.

A week earlier, Wynne had hit the headlines after his performance in a 3-0 win over Philadelphia Union earned him a place in the MLS Team of the Week. The 23-year-old joined the likes of super stars Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the line-up while the Philadelphia victory and accompanying clean sheet was also a memorable moment for Smith as it marked his 28^th birthday. He picked up an assist in this match too, flicking on a corner for Dominique Badji to finish. “I don’t get to play too many times on my actual birthday and I tweeted before the game that a win would be a good birthday present so it’s great that we managed to do that,” he said.

In South Africa, Jeremy Brockie’s search for a first goal in Mamelodi Sundowns colours has continued but he now has a Nedbank Cup semi-final to look forward to. The 50-cap All White did not play a part in getting there though as he was an unused substitute in a 2-1 win at Cape Town City and was again on the bench a week later in the league. He did see some action this time, coming on for the final five minutes as the Sundowns earned a 2-1 win over Baroka to extend their lead at the top of the table to four points.

Closer to home in Australia, Kosta Barbarouses missed out on the opportunity to take on his former club for the Melbourne Victory, the All Whites attacker serving a one-match suspension as the Wellington Phoenix came to town. Fellow All White Jai Ingham received a rare start in his absence while the Phoenix side had a strong Kiwi flavour with Oliver Sail, Andrew Durante, Tom Doyle, Matt Ridenton and Sarpreet Singh all earning starting berths. Michael McGlinchey, Alex Rufer and Logan Rogerson were named on the bench and it was a pair of New Zealanders who were largely responsible for the visitors taking the lead, Doyle putting Leigh Broxham under pressure from a Ridenton corner for the Victory man to turn into his own net. Doyle came off with a knock at half-time and was replaced by McGlinchey while Ingham exited in the 54^th minute and Rufer entered the fray with 20 minutes remaining. Rogerson came on soon after but the Phoenix couldn’t hold on for a morale-boosting win as Melbourne scored two late goals to snatch the points. The misery was complete for Wellington when Rufer was shown a straight red card in stoppage time for lashing out at an opponent. The Phoenix will wrap up their campaign on Saturday night when they take on Melbourne City at QBE Stadium in Auckland. Elsewhere in the A-League, goalkeeper Glen Moss was an unused substitute for the Newcastle Jets in a 2-0 loss to Perth Glory while Storm Roux missed the Central Coast Mariners’ 1-0 defeat to Melbourne City with a minor groin complaint. Moss and Roux, who has a new coach to play for after the unveiling of Mike Mulvey at the Mariners, will potentially come up against each other this weekend when the Jets visit the Coasters on Saturday.