By David Gold
April 18 – Tottenham Hotspur defender Ryan Nelsen is to captain the New Zealand football team at the London 2012 Olympic Games, it has been revealed.
Nelsen (pictured) captained New Zealand four years’ ago in Beijing, when the country crashed out in the opening round after drawing with China, and losing to Belgium and Brazil on its Olympic football debut.
He will be one of the three over 23-year-olds that New Zealand is allowed to take to London following the announcement of a group of athletes whose selection was confirmed today, with 100 days to go until the start of the Games this summer.
Wolfsburg defender Rebecca Smith, a former women’s FIFA World Player of the Year who captained New Zealand at the last two World Cups and at the last Olympic Games, will lead the women’s team.
Reports suggest that West Ham United’s Winston Reid and Shane Smeltz of Perth Glory are strong contenders to join Nelsen in the squad as the overage players.
New Zealand qualified for the Olympics after beating Fiji in the final of the regional qualifying tournament, which they hosted in Taupo last month.
As well as being the senior national team captain, Nelsen is one of the most significant players in the country’s football history, having played 45 times for New Zealand and scoring six goals in the process, since making his debut in 1999 against Poland.
He led the side in the last World Cup in South Africa two years’ ago, where the All Whites enjoyed a superb tournament.
They drew all three of their games, including with the then reigning world champions Italy, as well as Paraguay and Slovakia, in their group.
Though they did not reach the quarterfinals, they finished above Italy – an incredible result for a nation who were 78th in the FIFA world rankings prior to the tournament and participating in only their second World Cup.
Nelsen signed for Tottenham in January from Blackburn Rovers, whom he had spent seven years with.
The 34-year-old previously played for DC United in the United States and Christchurch United in New Zealand.
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