Lewis gets second chance
Most male footballers only get one shot at making it to the Olympics, but Clayton Lewis is one of the lucky ones.
That’s especially so when you consider how the first attempt ended four years ago.
In 2015, the New Zealand under-23 men’s national team was one win away from securing its place at the Rio Olympics, then it wasn’t in the final at all.
Vanuatu had discovered that the Kiwis had fielded an ineligible player, Deklan Wynne, in their semifinal and lodged a protest, and hours out from kickoff in the decider, Lewis and his team-mates learned their fate.
‘‘We got a message in our group chat saying everyone needs to go the meeting room, so we went there, thinking what’s going on here, and we got the news,’’ he said this week, ahead of the qualifiers for Tokyo 2020.
‘‘It was just devastation, the way people then realised, we’re not going to get this opportunity again, how has this happened? We’ve done everything in our power to get to this point, so how?
‘‘The thing that got us through was that everyone stuck together through it all, no-one bagged one another . . . we were able to stick together to get through that time.’’
For 20 of the 23 players in the 2015 campaign, including Wynne, the disqualification was the end of their Olympic dream – though some could yet make it as one of the three over-age players qualified nations can select.
Lewis, Moses Dyer and Logan Rogerson were the three young pups in Anthony Hudson’s squad in 2015, eligible to go again this time around, and Des Buckingham has called up Lewis and Rogerson for this year’s OFC qualifying tournament in Fiji, which begins today.
With 15 All Whites caps to his name, Lewis is the senior figure in this year’s team, and is determined to win the tournament and secure a place in Tokyo – not to mention grateful that his English club, Scunthorpe United, has let him be involved. ‘‘The Olympics come every four years so it’s massive to be here.
‘‘Scunthorpe could have easily said no, and I could have had to trust the boys to get it done – which I would have – but now I’m here, and I’ll do my part, on the field, off the field, I’ll do everything
in my power to ensure we qualify.
‘‘The 11 players that take the field aren’t the only ones, we’re working for the subs, the staff, everyone in New Zealand.’’
The Olywhites’ campaign begins today when they take on Samoa, with American Samoa and the Solomon Islands the other teams in their group, and Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu in the other group.
The winner of the final on October 5 will qualify for the men’s football tournament at the Tokyo Olympics, which begins on July 23 next year.
The Football Ferns have already qualified for the women’s tournament by virtue of winning the OFC Women’s Nations Cup last year.