Nelsen withdraws from China international
November 12, 2012
AUCKLAND – All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen has withdrawn from the
international match with China with niggling ankle and knee injuries.
17-year-old Cameron Howieson has been called up to the squad and will
travel from his Burnley home overnight to link up the rest of the All
Whites squad in Shanghai on Tuesday morning (China time).
Nelsen and medical staff have been managing the injuries for the past
month and he has not trained with his QPR club between matches in the
English Premier League.
“Ryan is committed to our programme and is a key asset to our campaign
to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil,” said New Zealand Football
High Performance Director Fred de Jong.
“It’s not unique for a team to manage their athletes as best as they
can, Ryan is 35 years old and we want to do all we can to make sure he
is fit to play in our FIFA World Cup qualifiers in March and again in
November next year if necessary.”
De Jong was aware the stance could leave New Zealand Football open to
criticism in the wake of Winston Reid’s situation during the FIFA World
Cup™ qualifiers with Tahiti last month, but was quick to stress the
difference in scenarios.
“The window in October was for Official Matches whereas this window is
for Friendly Matches, which is a tighter timeframe,” said de Jong.
The FIFA rules around release of players for Official Matches is five
days prior to the window, whereas Friendly Matches is 48 hours.
“We were able to treat Winston on arrival in New Zealand for at least
four days before the match with Tahiti in Christchurch. With the China
game we’re talking hours rather than days,” said de Jong.
The last of the England-based All Whites arrive in Shanghai on Tuesday morning (China time), with the match scheduled for Wednesday evening.
What a load of crap. They should be resting him with the international window and the fact he'll be playing during it in mind. That is such a cop out.
He is obviously fit to play,despite the alleged niggling injuries as he has been playing every week for QPR. That's all that matters.