ELLIOTT RULED OUT OF AMERICAS TOUR

Auckland
March 14, 2007

Fulham midfielder Simon Elliott has lost his frustrating race against time to be passed fit for the All Whites tour of the Americas later this month.

The 32-year-old had hoped to make his international comeback away to Costa Rica and Venezuela on March 25 and 29 (NZT) after last playing for New Zealand at the ill-fated 2004 Oceania Nations Cup in Adelaide.

But the rare Achilles injury that has sidelined Elliott for the entire premiership season will keep the Wellingtonian out of the tour.

He remains confident of playing by the end of the northern hemisphere season and is now targeting the All Whites mid-year tour of Europe – where matches against Wales and Ukraine are confirmed – for his international return.

“I really hoped to be back for these two games for New Zealand but the surgeon felt it was a little too soon,” Elliott said from London.

“I’ve just got back from seeing him in Sweden today and he feels I need to do some more functional soccer work before I start ripping into international football.

“It’s disappointing I can’t be involved but New Zealand have those games over [the northern hemisphere] summer that will give me something to look forward to if I’m selected.”

Elliott suffered the injury in a pre-season fixture against Israel’s Maccabi Haifa in Austria in late July and was operated on in December once the severity of the problem was diagnosed.

“It was quite serious because there was a lot of internal blood and swelling which made it hard to diagnose,” Elliott said.

“The Achilles consists of three parts and I ripped one part of it which apparently doesn’t happen very often. My body also produces an unusual amount of scar tissue which basically shut down the lower part of the leg.

“So it’s been a really frustrating year. I’m definitely heading in the right direction and it would be nice to play some games so the whole season’s not lost to injury but I just don’t know.”

Elliott, who has another season left on his Fulham contract with the option of a season’s extension after that, reiterated his desire to play for New Zealand again with an eye to the 2010 World Cup qualifiers beginning in October.

“It’s just great to see New Zealand playing so many top games again and getting young players involved and giving them experience. It’s critical to have a large pool of players having gone through tough games together looking ahead to the World Cup qualifiers,” Elliott said.

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert said it was disappointing Elliott was unavailable but understood the Fulham midfielder’s situation. He has yet to decide whether to replace Elliott for the tour.

“This is something Simon and I have kept in contact about given there may have been a possibility of him playing. We both agreed that we’d give it as long as possible because we want to get Simon back into the environment,” Herbert said.

“Hopefully he’ll be right for the mid-year tour of Europe as we close in on the World Cup qualifiers.”