Christie to miss All Whites parade

Jeremy Christie is disappointed to miss next week's welcome-home parade for the All Whites through central Wellington but says he will back in New Zealand later in the year to catch up with Northland fans.
The 26-year-old said his commitments to his United States second division team Tampa Bay Rowdies would prevent him from making the trip.
"The timing's not the best, obviously I can't just up and leave the team midway through the season but I'm disappointed to miss it, it would have been great see the boys and interact with the fans a little bit more," he said
His return to his Florida base after New Zealand were eliminated from the World Cup finals surprised the All White's midfielder who was overwhelmed at the attention he received.
"My first day back at training, the local TV stations all came down to talk to me and the fans here were fantastic, everyone here at the club seemed really proud to have one of their players at the World Cup - so the reaction here was fantastic - and after leaving South Africa it was good to come back into a bit of a spotlight," he said.
To repay the Rowdies, he scored in a 1-1 draw in his first match back at the club but he has played sparingly ever since.
Christie revealed he suffered a groin strain at training before the Slovenia warm-up match. The injury may have been a contributing factor to him losing his starting position to Ivan Vicelich during the World Cup finals.
"I was battling a groin injury in the World Cup, it wasn't bad but I just had to be careful with it and get a lot of treatment to manage it," he said.
He never missed a training session in South Africa as a result but once he returned to Tampa Bay, the medical staff at the club were keen to eliminate the injury.
"Once the tournament was over I wanted to get 100 percent right and I have the opportunity here at the moment because ... we're looking good to make the playoffs and it's better to take the time now, so hopefully I'll be fully fit before the playoffs begin," he said.
Tampa Bay are currently fifth in the league with a couple of games in hand with the top six clubs going onto the playoffs.
Christie is hopefully of a successful end to his season in the US and plans to return to New Zealand after it finishes in October.
"I'll be back in New Zealand catching up with family before Christmas and because I'll miss the parade next week, I'll hopefully be able to thank the fans more personally then," he said.