Froome’s absence opens door
Former All Whites goalkeeper Glen Moss is encouraging Michael Would to go with his heart as he considers switching allegiance to the Netherlands.
The 19-year-old is in the frame for a Dutch under-20 callup, having played for New Zealand at senior and age-group level previously.
His inclusion in a preliminary squad this week was the first sign such a move was on the cards and his agent Bruno Meirelles has confirmed he is weighing it up.
‘‘Michael hasn’t decided yet,’’ he told Stuff in an email early yesterday. We will inform [the] NZ federation of Michael’s decision shortly.’’
The Netherlands under-20 team has a friendly against Portugal next month and the final squad for that fixture is set to be named next week.
Moss, whose international retirement opened the door for Woud to make his All Whites debut against India earlier this year, has been in a similar situation himself. Although he was born in New Zealand, he moved to Queensland as a child and holds an Australian passport.
However, he said he chose to represent New Zealand because it was the country he was most passionate about, and he is now encouraging Woud to go with his heart as well.
‘‘We came over from New Zealand in the late 80s when dad got work over in Australia. For me it wasn’t a hard decision to make because I was born in New Zealand and it was something that was in my heart, and that’s probably my advice to anyone who is dual international,’’ Moss said.
Born in Auckland, Woud has a Dutch passport and is eligible to play for the Netherlands, as his lone appearance for the All Whites came in a friendly match. Players are only tied to a country once they play a competitive senior fixture, such as a World Cup qualifier.
Under Fifa rules, players are only permitted to change their nationality once, meaning Woud would be lost to the All Whites if he seeks to play for the Netherlands.
He is widely regarded as the country’s future No 1, and was a notable omission from the New Zealand squad for this month’s Oceania Under-19 Championship, as he was not released by his club, Willem II.
While New Zealand Football has twice declined the opportunity to comment on Woud’s situation, Moss urged the national body to let the player make the decision himself.
He said if Woud does not want to represent New Zealand then there is no point beginning him to stay. ‘‘I don’t think New Zealand Football should be chasing guys to play for them. We shouldn’t have to beg guys to play for our country, if anything it should be the other way round.
‘‘When I was 18 I begged my dad to ring New Zealand Football because that’s how badly I wanted it,’’ he said. George Bennett says the absence of defending champion Chris Froome has thrown the Vuelta a Espana wide open and could lead to more aggressive racing.
Three of the biggest names in cycling – Froome, Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas and runner-up Tom Dumoulin – have all decided to skip the final Grand Tour of the year.
Although Bennett rated Michal Kwiatkowski and David de la Cruz as two of the strongest contenders, he said the absence of Team Sky’s two leading men should make the Vuelta much closer in 2018 and therefore more exciting to watch.
‘‘When there’s not a team with a crazy stranglehold on the race it does open itself up to be more aggressive and creative, which is exciting,’’ he said.
‘‘Especially in the early days if there’s no clear leader, the breakaway could manage to survive because no one takes control of the race, everyone looks at each other and the peloton doesn’t really commit to chasing. That can lead to some crazy unpredictable scenario.
‘‘It could also make everyone think they can win, which makes the race extremely hard. When Sky is there and they’re the favourites it is quite controlled.’’
Bennett will arrive at the start line in Malaga as a genuine prospect himself, having achieved the first of his two top-10 finishes at a Grand Tour at the Vuelta in 2016.
But while the LottoNL-Jumbo rider will be looking to improve on his eighth place finish at the Giro d’Italia from earlier in the year – the best result of his career to date – he is also flirting with the idea of hunting for a stage victory, something that has eluded the Nelson product so far.
‘‘I’d love to win a stage – that would be a dream – and to improve on that eighth placing. But I’m also realistic in terms of the start list here, it’s one of the strongest I’ve raced against on paper,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s so many guys that crashed out of Tour and a lot of guys doubling up from the Tour and a lot of the guys who did the Giro and skipped the Tour – [Thibaut] Pinot and [Fabio] Aru – and they have all converged on this crazy start list.
‘‘Froome isn’t here and neither is Thomas or Romain [Bardet] but everyone else is so it is hard to say what a good goal is. But it would be good to improve on the Giro. I do feel better than I did before the Giro but whether that translates into a better result it’s hard to say.’’
Bennett will share a leadership role with experienced Dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk, who finished fifth at the Tour.
If Kruijswijk emerges as the stronger of the two, there is a possibility the 28-year-old will have to sacrifice his own general classification aspirations in order to support his team-mate.
Bennett said that scenario would allow him to go stage hunting, but the plan for now is to make a full assault on the general classification standings.
‘‘If I really wanted to increase my chances of winning a stage then I would step off the GC, lose a lot of time, get in breakaways and stage hunt – which isn’t going to happen unless something goes drastically wrong.’’
The Vuelta begins with an eight kilometre time trial in Malaga on Saturday.