McCowatt lays down his goals
For the next few days at least, Callum McCowatt has more senior international goals than professional league goals.
The 20-year-old made his All Whites debut against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday (Friday NZT) and became the first Kiwi to mark the occasion by scoring since Ian Hogg did so against El Salvador in 2012.
But he is yet to open his account in the A-League with the Wellington Phoenix, who he joined in June, though he did score for them in the FFA Cup at the start of August.
That was the last time he netted in a competitive match, so when he poked home Phoenix teammate Liberato Cacace’s cross in the 30th minute at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, it came as quite a relief.
‘‘I haven’t actually scored in a while, so I was just happy to get that scoring feeling back,’’ McCowatt said in Vilnius, where the All Whites played Lithuania overnight.
McCowatt made a name for himself as a teenager scoring goals in New Zealand’s amateur national league, netting nine times in 20 league matches in 2017-18 with Auckland City, including the winner in that season’s final, and 21 times in 16 matches in 2018-19 with Eastern Suburbs, including a hat-trick in the final in March.
But from that day eight months ago until last Thursday, the FFA Cup goal was the only one he’d scored outside of preseason friendlies, and he’s hoping the strike against Ireland is a sign of things to come.
‘‘It’s a weird thing, because scoring hasn’t necessarily always been something that I’ve had on my mind,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ve just wanted to go out and work as hard as possible and hopefully get rewarded.
‘‘I haven’t been scoring at club level, but it’s something I’m looking to add to my game at the Phoenix, and hopefully that will come as I adapt to the league.’’
McCowatt started on the right of a front three for the All Whites as they lost to Ireland, with veteran English Premier League striker Chris Wood in the middle, and fellow Ole´ Academy product Elijah Just on the left.
He said it was special to share the occasion with Just – who he has played with at Western Suburbs in Wellington and Eastern Suburbs in Auckland, as well as at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in May – and he enjoyed the challenge.
‘‘It was a fun game. Physically it was tough, but I’m still trying to improve as a player so in that aspect.’’