All Whites captain Winston Reid. Photo / Photosport
All Whites captain Winston Reid. Photo / Photosport
All Whites football captain Winston Reid fears he won't get to lead his country in 2020.
The international calendar is up in the air due to the coronavirus pandemic, with last month's scheduled All Whites games in Oman and Bahrain cancelled as a result.
Speaking to NZME, Reid says ifthere's no international football, there can't be any league football around the world either.
"I'm really hopeful that everything does get sorted so at least we can get back on the training pitch and play games again. With regards to the national team, obviously I would love to come back and play games; hopefully we're able to do that this year.
"You've seen they already had to move [Euro 2020] back, that was supposed to be in June and is postponed to next year, they've postponed the Olympics which were meant to start in July. They're postponing a number of big events which isn't a great sign of what's to come."
His last football outing was for the All Whites in a friendly loss to the Republic of Ireland in November. His last competitive match was for West Ham in March 2018.
All Whites captain Winston Reid. Photo / Photosport
Reid has made 166 Premier League appearances for the Hammers and says he still wants to play at the highest level once football returns.
"I'm going to have to figure it out if it's going to be in England or if it's going to be here, I've really got no idea. But the best short-term solution was to come here to America and get some game time, so hopefully that happens soon as well."
However, Reid remains in the dark over when he'll actually get to don the sky blue kit of his new MLS club, saying the MLS will make the call when the season can hopefully get back on track.
"They're going to have to listen to what the experts say and what's advisable to do and what's advisable not to do. It's just a waiting game really and just sort of staying put until we get some information on what we can do and what we can't."
Reid understands the pay cut conversation could be coming his way soon, with a number of professional athletes having had to take wage cuts to ensure the longevity of either their respective club or competition.
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Reid's yet to have that conversation and expects the directive to come from higher up if it needs to happen. He says as players, they understand they're in a privileged position where they earn substantial amounts of money for doing something they love, and there's a responsibility that comes with that, too.
"We genuinely want to do what's best for everyone, but there's going to be so many other discussions behind closed doors that they'll probably have to figure out what's best to do."
Reid's trying to survive lockdown alone in Kansas City, knowing his family are going through the same thing in London.
He's staying by himself in a downtown apartment. His wife and children have remained in England. He says while it's tough, that's out of their hands.
"It's not ideal for the family to fly over with everything going on and unfortunately I can't go back to London."
Although a lot of the sporting world has resorted to Esports, Reid says he hasn't had time for games such as FIFA since he started a family. However, he has been hooked on a Netflix series.
"I just finished Ozark, which was pretty interesting and not too far from here as well, so that was pretty good, other than that, just watching TV. Obviously there's not a lot of sport on TV now so it's mainly movies or other series."
Reid hasn't resorted to setting up dribbling drills in his apartment yet.
"I'm not that bored yet. I'm mainly just going outside and running on trails or down by the water, or using an indoor bike I have, that's probably the most we can do. All public gyms and even the one in my apartment are closed. All the facilities at the club are closed as well, so there's not a lot we can do.
"Hopefully the situation clears up sooner than later so everyone can get back to every day life."
