Midfielder plays waiting game with a strong point to prove
Clayton Lewis has arrived in an All Whites environment with a point to prove, yet again.
Lewis has been on the international scene longer than most but has had a stop-start career in the silver fern. He has been part of the biggest games of the recent era, including both legs of the Peru intercontinental series in 2017 and the playoff against Costa Rica in Doha last year.
But he has also endured long absences. His ill-fated spell at Scunthorpe took him out of the reckoning, then Covid struck. When the All Whites returned in 2021, border issues meant that A-League players couldn’t be selected.
Injury saw the midfielder miss the series with Australia last year, then he got only 44 minutes in the home matches against China this year.
And Lewis was absent from the October window featuring DR Congo and Australia, as coach Darren Bazeley chose not to take players from Australasia, given the proximity of the A-League season.
Since his debut in Seoul against South Korea in March 2015, Lewis has accumulated 24 caps. He’s a veteran but not quite a mainstay.
“I was looking around the team the other night and it was only me, Woodsy, Tommy [Smith] and Boxy [Michael Boxall] who were there back then,” Lewis told the Weekend Herald. “Eight years ago — it’s pretty crazy and I feel like I’m one of the old boys now. It has been a good time. I wish over the course of that time, I could have racked up double the games.”
The 26-year-old has also reinvented himself. Under former coach Anthony Hudson, he was pushed further forward with an eye for a pass, shown by his brilliant assist for Chris Wood’s goal against Mexico at the 2017 Fifa Confederations Cup.
But he has since reverted to a holding role, though he believes he has the armoury.
“Hopefully I can get further forward over these games and showcase my passing ability in and around the box.”
Lewis also faces much more competition, with the emergence of Joe Bell, Marko Stamenic and Matt Garbett among others in recent years. But he has something to offer, with his vision, combative nature and game awareness.
Lewis has also pushed himself out of his comfort zone, with the recent move to Macarthur from the Wellington Phoenix, where he is one of five visa players.
This window, against Greece this morning and Ireland on Wednesday morning, is another litmus test for the All Whites. They’ve had plenty of promising moments in recent years and have evolved noticeably with their ability to retain possession, especially in the final third.
But they are waiting for the kind of breakthrough result that turns heads. “We’re definitely trying to be a high-pressing team. If we can win the ball high, we’ve got the players to really hurt teams. We underestimate how good we can be in transition. That’s definitely something we can keep working on and having that forward push.”