{"id":8741,"date":"2026-05-23T10:55:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T15:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wdepradio.com\/?p=8741"},"modified":"2026-05-23T10:55:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T15:55:20","slug":"united-defender-michael-boxall-pumped-to-play-in-first-world-cup-will-represent-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wdepradio.com\/?p=8741","title":{"rendered":"United defender Michael Boxall pumped to play in first World Cup, will represent New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>KSTP Sports was at Minnesota United practice Friday in Blaine and spoke with defender Michael Boxall and head coach Cameron Knowles. United\u2019s last game before a two-month break for the World Cup will come Saturday afternoon in St. Paul vs. Real Salt Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Boxall, 37, will get to play in his first World Cup this summer following Saturday\u2019s match. He\u2019ll join his New Zealand teammates for their third-ever World Cup appearance (1982, 2010).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Boxall scored the game-winning goal against New Caledonia March 2025 to help secure New Zealand\u2019s outright qualification into the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Below is a preview of United vs. Real Salt Lake, courtesy of the Associated Press:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Real Salt Lake (8-4-1, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Minnesota United FC (6-5-3, seventh in the Western Conference)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saint Paul, Minnesota; Saturday, 3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LINE: Minnesota United FC +115, Real Salt Lake +207, Draw +258; over\/under is 2.5 goals<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota United faces Real Salt Lake in conference action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>United is 4-4-3 against conference opponents. United ranks fourth in the Western Conference drawing 73 corner kicks, averaging 5.2 per game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RSL is 7-3-1 in conference play. Sergi Solans paces the sixth-ranked scoring team in the Western Conference with six goals. RSL has scored 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season between the two teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TOP PERFORMERS: Kelvin Yeboah has eight goals for United. Anthony Markanich has scored four goals over the last 10 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Solans has scored six goals with three assists for RSL. Zavier Gozo has five goals and two assists over the past 10 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KSTP Sports was at Minnesota United practice Friday in Blaine and spoke with defender Michael Boxall and head<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[271,268,166],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa","category-soccer","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>United defender Michael Boxall pumped to play in first World Cup, will represent New Zealand - WDEP Radio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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