All Whites act as tonic for Sail after Nix setback
Being picked in the All Whites squad for the World Cup playoff against Costa Rica has helped goalkeeper Oli Sail get over the disappointment of Wellington Phoenix’s exit from the A-League Men finals series.
Instead of dwelling on their narrow 1-0 defeat to Western United in last weekend’s elimination final, Sail’s national team call-up and the opportunity to push Stefan Marinovic for a starting spot has given the 26-year-old something else to occupy his mind with.
‘‘It was obviously not a time that I wanted to be focussed on that. I wanted to still be playing finals footy with the boys here and having that in the back of my mind, but it’s a great honour to be called up and to have that confirmed.
‘‘It’s a nice way to cap off the season and to ease the blow of the other night,’’ Sail said.
The Phoenix’s challenging 2021-22 campaign ended last Saturday when they were unable to find a way back into the game after conceding an early goal.
They had a great chance to draw level midway through the second half, only for opposition goalkeeper Jamie Young to pull off a save-of-the-season contender to keep out James McGarry’s header.
From his vantage point, Sail thought the header was going in but he applauded Young for his ‘‘first-class’’ save which ultimately sealed the win for Western and consigned the Phoenix to yet another first round exit.
‘‘The view that sums it up the most is the wider angle from my point of view that showed the Phoenix fans behind the goal.
‘‘As soon as James put his head on it they went up and just like them, I thought it was going in.
‘‘It was a pretty incredible save to cover that much ground in a short period of time.’’
Sail has stayed in Australia since the Phoenix season concluded, travelling to Melbourne to spend time with his girlfriend and her family, and will head straight to Europe instead of returning to New Zealand after being named as one of three goalkeepers in the 26-man squad for the World Cup playoff against Costa Rica in Doha on June 15 (NZT) and the warmup game against Peru in Barcelona on June 6.
Sail is locked in a two-way battle with Marinovic to be the starting goalkeeper for the World Cup playoff. Marinovic has been the first-choice goalkeeper for the All Whites for the past seven years and has international experience on his side.
And while Sail only made his international debut in March, he did unseat Marinovic at the Phoenix last season and is currently in the form of his career.
‘‘It’s not my jersey yet so I’ve got to go over and get into camp, do the work and hopefully get the nod for the game.
‘‘The more football I play the better opportunity I have. The last 18 months I’ve played a lot of football consistently so I do feel my game keeps improving, but I have conceded a lot of goals this year as well.’’
Sail is understood to have attracted some interest from a club in Europe on the back of his stellar season, where he was thrust into a captaincy role when Alex Rufer suffered a long-term injury.
Although he is contracted through to the end of next season, there is a chance he may have played his final game for the Phoenix.
Sail was reluctant to confirm the interest but he made no secret of his desire to test himself at a higher level should an opportunity arise in the coming months.
‘‘I’m just going to focus on the next couple of months and in particular the next four or five weeks and those things will take care of themselves, hopefully.
‘‘What motivates me is wanting to challenge myself and a greater level. This year it took shape in the form of wanting to be a leader in this group and that was a new challenge,’’ he said.