{"id":271041,"date":"2026-02-06T18:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271041\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:19:08","slug":"squads-named-for-auckland-fcs-mens-a-league-match-against-sydney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271041\/","title":{"rendered":"Squads named for Auckland FC’s men’s A-League match against Sydney"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand international Michael Woud will start for Auckland FC against Sydney as the club deal with their goalkeeper crisis ahead of the men\u2019s A-League clash at Go Media Stadium.<\/p>\n

Woud will return to the starting line-up instead of fellow All White Oli Sail, who is likely to be sidelined for up to nine months after having surgery for a ruptured tendon suffered against former club Perth Glory last weekend.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: All Whites \u2018keeper Oli Sail \u2018out for quite a while\u2019 after suffering injury<\/a> >>>><\/p>\n

Inexperienced Liam Hill (17) has been named in Auckland FC\u2019s provisional squad as the back-up keeper, having made one appearance last season for the reserves in the Northern League.<\/p>\n

Of the club\u2019s other goalkeepers:<\/p>\n

Third-choice \u2018keeper Joe Knowles (21) has a hip injury.
\nOscar Mason (21) and Blake Callinan (20) are in Papua New Guinea with the club\u2019s OFC Pro League squad.
\nReserve team goalkeeper Eli Jones (19) has glandular fever.<\/p>\n

Head coach Steve Corica has acknowledged that the club are looking to recruit another goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

Though All Whites defender Nando Pijnaker has been named in Auckland FC\u2019s provisional squad, he is unlikely to play after leaving the pitch with a groin problem in the first half against Perth Glory.<\/p>\n

Squads<\/p>\n

Auckland FC (one to be omitted)<\/p>\n

1. Michael Woud (Gk), 2. Hiroki Sakai, 3. Jake Girdwood-Reich, 4. Nando Pijnaker, 6. Louis Verstraete, 7. Cameron Howieson, 8. Felipe Gallegos, 9. Sam Cosgrove, 10. Guillermo May, 11. Marlee Fran\u00e7ois, 15. Francis de Vries, 17. Callan Elliot, 19. Oliver Middleton, 21. Jesse Randall, 22. Jake Brimmer, 23. Dan Hall, 27. Logan Rogerson, 35. Jonty Bidois, 60. Liam Hill (Gk), 77. Lachlan Brook.<\/p>\n

In: 60. Liam Hill.<\/p>\n

Out: 20. Oli Sail (injured).<\/p>\n

Unavailable: Oli Sail (injured).<\/p>\n

Sydney (two to be omitted)<\/p>\n

4. Jordan Courtney-Perkins, 5. Alex Grant, 6. Corey Hollman, 7. Piero Quispe, 8. Wataru Kamijo, 9. V\u00edctor Campuzano, 10. Joe Lolley, 12. Harrison Devenish-Meares (Gk), 13. Pat Wood, 16. Joel King, 17. Ben Garuccio, 20. Tiago Quintal, 22. Mathias Macallister, 23. Rhyan Grant, 24. Paul Okon Jnr, 30. Alexander Zaverdinos (Gk), 32. Marcel Tisserand, 36. Rhys Youlley, 41. Alexandar Popovic, 44. Akol Akon.<\/p>\n

In: 4. Jordan Courtney-Perkins (promoted), 36. Rhys Youlley (return from suspension).<\/p>\n

Out: None.<\/p>\n

Unavailable: 1. Gus Hoefsloot (wrist), 11. Abel Walatee (groin), 35. Al Hassan Toure (calf).<\/p>\n

Officials<\/p>\n

Referee: Alex King.
Assistant referees: Brad Wright, Andrew Meimarakis.
Fourth official: Declan Woods.
VAR: Tim Danaskos.
Assistant VAR: Anton Shchetinin.<\/p>\n

Fixture<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Game to be played on Saturday February 7, 2026<\/p>\n

Auckland FC v Sydney
Go Media Stadium, Auckland, 5pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s A-League<\/p>\n

Club
\nMP
\nW
\nD
\nL
\nGF
\nGA
\nGD
\nPts<\/p>\n

Newcastle Jets
\n15
\n9
\n0
\n6
\n34
\n26
\n8
\n27<\/p>\n

Sydney
\n14
\n8
\n1
\n5
\n22
\n14
\n8
\n25<\/p>\n

Auckland FC
\n15
\n7
\n4
\n4
\n22
\n17
\n5
\n25<\/p>\n

Macarthur
\n17
\n6
\n7
\n4
\n24
\n23
\n1
\n25<\/p>\n

Melbourne Victory
\n16
\n7
\n2
\n7
\n23
\n21
\n2
\n23<\/p>\n

Adelaide United
\n15
\n7
\n2
\n6
\n24
\n23
\n1
\n23<\/p>\n

Melbourne City
\n16
\n5
\n6
\n5
\n18
\n20
\n-2
\n21<\/p>\n

Brisbane Roar
\n16
\n6
\n3
\n7
\n16
\n20
\n-4
\n21<\/p>\n

Perth Glory
\n16
\n6
\n2
\n8
\n20
\n22
\n-2
\n20<\/p>\n

Wellington Phoenix
\n16
\n5
\n4
\n7
\n26
\n31
\n-5
\n19<\/p>\n

Central Coast Mariners
\n15
\n4
\n4
\n7
\n19
\n23
\n-4
\n16<\/p>\n

Western Sydney Wanderers
\n15
\n4
\n3
\n8
\n12
\n20
\n-8
\n15<\/p>\n

Table at 6am (NZT) on Saturday February 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

This story was first published on February 6, 2026, and updated February 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

More football stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand international Michael Woud will start for Auckland FC against Sydney as the club deal with their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[137630,73757,111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-271041","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-a-league","9":"tag-auckland-fc","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}