Hold on, Mrs Nelsen

The Dom-Post reports this morning on a possible dilemma for All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen ahead of the FIFA World Cup finals - read on:

Ryan Nelsen has his fingers crossed that the call never comes.

But if it does, the All Whites will be without their inspirational captain at the World Cup next month.

Nelsen's wife, Monica, is pregnant with the couple's second child and the due date is July 10 – the day before the World Cup final in South Africa. The All Whites are likely to be long gone by then but, considering the adage about second babies arriving faster, it could be a close-run thing.

The All Whites' final pool match is against Paraguay, about two weeks before the due date, and Nelsen told The Dominion Post that "nothing on this earth" would prevent him from jetting home to England, not even a World Cup match.

"If it comes a couple of weeks early, it could be interesting," the defender said. "If it did come early, I'd have to get on the plane and head straight home. There's nothing on this earth that would stop me from being there at my child's birth."

Apart from making the comment that it was pretty poor planning on Nelsen's part to impregnate Mrs Nelsen at such a crucial time, we hope that Mrs Nelsen and Nelsen Junior will do their bit for the cause. Few pundits are tipping the All Whites to advance beyond the group stage, but football is a funny old game, and as one of the sporting apparel companies says "Impossible is Nothing".

We know one thing for sure. Few teams will play with as much heart as the All Whites will. They may not be the rock starts of the sport, but they will not be beaten in the guts and determination stakes. And no All White epitomises that more than Ryan Nelsen. He was the rock in the win over Bahrain at Wellington, and his participation is crucial to the team. Let's hope that he gets the oppportunity to show his skills to the world, ans THEN be present when the miracle of birth takes place; that would be a win-win scenario.