Soccer: Premiership perfect lead-up to Cup duty

All White Ryan Nelson. Photo / Getty Images

All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen is well aware of the saying "the end justifies the means" from his days as a political science graduate at Stanford University.

The end is that he will play at the World Cup in South Africa next month. The means to get there saw him miss internationals between 2004-2008.

Injuries, a shambolic New Zealand 2003 Confederations Cup campaign and a desire to fulfil his dream of playing English Premier League football saw Nelsen miss national duty.

The decision sits easier now: "My exodus from New Zealand was helped by the people in charge at the time. I decided I wanted to have a crack at the [English] Premier League so put my head down and went for it. The thought of coming back to play the Solomon Islands or Fiji didn't really compare.

"I also believe playing in the premiership held extra weight for people back here - they respect it more. It was a bit selfish, but I thought if a Kiwi could make it in the Premier League it'd be great for the sport [in New Zealand]."

The decision suited him and New Zealand. His 2004-05 signing under then Blackburn manager Mark Hughes, formerly a favourite striker at Manchester United, remains the definitive moment in his career.

Nelsen - then a DC United player in the US - admits he was naive when he crossed the Atlantic for trials.

"I ended up staying for 10 days. Mark watched me eat and I'd even turn around in the bathroom and he'd be staring at me. It was the most stressful thing I've done. I talk to Mark now and he says he knew he was going to sign me after two days but wanted to stop me going back to the US and potentially trialling elsewhere.

"The bastard kept me at Blackburn as long as he could," says Nelsen.

Nelsen provides a large dollop of common sense and an earthy, practical viewpoint on the image of premiership footballers as flashy, overpaid revellers with too much money and not enough discipline.

The lifestyles - not all of them desirable - of professional footballers is showcased in the Fleet St red-tops, women's magazines, gossip columns or television shows like Footballers Wives.

Nelsen says: "Most of it is rubbish. I would say 90 per cent of the guys have families - they go to their job, work their butts off and go home."

He lives about 45 minutes from Blackburn and loves his village lifestyle. He even admits northern Manchester might be a decent spot to live if a dark, black cloud did not seem to linger for approximately 364 days a year. He can even pop in for an occasional pint and Sunday roast at his local - the De Trafford Arms.

"Occasionally I might go to a restaurant with the likes of my teammates [and Australian representatives] Brett Emerton and Vince Grella and have a wine at a club afterwards. But there are always a section of players - just like in any workplace - who party hard."

It would be hard to get away with larrikinism at Blackburn since veteran manager Sam Allardyce took over in late 2008 after Paul Ince's brief spell.

Allardyce has taken his renowned direct approach; something Nelsen says has not upset their performance with a 10th place league finish. It is the fourth time in five seasons Blackburn has finished in the top half of the table.

"Sam has an amazing aura, he walks into a room and, boom, everyone looks at him and takes notice. He'll give you a volley if you've done wrong but he also has some empathy. He let me off for the last game of the season so I could spend more time with my family, knowing I'd be away at the World Cup.

"I've got a lot of respect for him. He doesn't worry about what people think and has a skin like a rhinoceros. Interestingly Sam's also got a massive head that would put Zinzan Brooke's in the shade."

Nelsen is aiming to instil Allardyce's same ability to handle pressure in his All Whites, as outlined in his new book Ryan Nelsen's Road to the World Cup. The book gives readers an insight into the All Whites qualification process.

"Over in the UK it's relentless. Week-in, week-out fans demand everything. It is in your face all the time. If the crowd doesn't feel you've done the job, they tell you.

"New Zealanders got a taste of that against Bahrain in Wellington, at least compared to the relatively conservative silence of rugby matches. At that game a lot of inhibitions were thrown out and there was passion. Shirts were ripped off and hair was let down.

"This team needs to remain undaunted because it has an experienced core. Even the youngest member [18-year-old Chris Wood] has played a game in the premier league. It's about perception. You see snippets of some of these international stars on telly but, when you play against them regularly, you realise they're only human and make plenty of mistakes. Once you get rid of that stigma it becomes easier."

To complement the All Whites' achievement - and as a legacy of this World Cup - Nelsen would like New Zealand to follow Australia and join the Asian confederation.

"It might be tougher to get to get to the World Cup but New Zealand has good players now, so I'd like to see two or three games a year played back here against the likes of South Korea or Saudi Arabia.

"New Zealanders love that sense of competition and it would be viable commercially for sponsors."