Herbert gives Moss green light for cup

ROB KITCHIN/Dominion Post

PACK YOUR BAGS: Glen Moss can start packing his bags for South Africa.

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Glen Moss can start packing his bags for South Africa.

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert is sticking by the suspended Melbourne Victory goalkeeper, who has been a feature of his teams during the past four years.

Yesterday he guaranteed Moss one of the five remaining spots in a 23-man squad for next year's football World Cup, meaning he will join man-of-the-moment Mark Paston and James Bannatyne as one of three goalkeepers.

Herbert had already said the 18 players involved in Saturday's 1-0 qualifying win against Bahrain at Westpac Stadium were virtually guaranteed trips to South Africa.

"Glen will go, I'll definitely take him," Herbert said yesterday.

"There's no decision to make on that one."

Moss had been Herbert's No1 before a controversial four-matchWorld Cup suspension for swearing at a referee against Fiji last year. Then the subsequent bungling of an appeal opportunity by New Zealand Football ruled him out of the two qualifying matches against Bahrain, and the first two pool matches in South Africa.

It would leave the All Whites in a precarious situation if either Mark Paston or James Bannatyne were injured and unavailable for the first two games. With Moss unable to play in those, there would be no goalkeeper on the bench.

"It is a tricky situation and I'm not sure how we would approach it but we will deal with it," Herbert said.

"Glen and Mark are the best two keepers we've got and they're both going. Glen is young and he will play many more matches for New Zealand so we want him to be there."

Herbert wants to build depth beyond the World Cup and Moss, still only 26 years old, will be around for future cup campaigns.

The coach, still on a high after guiding the All Whites to a famous World Cup win, will not make a call on the remaining four players for some time. He has not seen as much of the talented under-17 and under-20 players the country boasts as he would have liked, and wants time to view them.

He is eyeing players who could play a part in cup campaigns beyond next year and strongly emphasised yesterday the need to include younger players in the squad for South Africa.

Those who will come into the mix for the remaining spots are Kilmarnock defender Steven Old, North Queensland Fury wide player Jeremy Brockie, Columbus Crew midfielder Duncan Oughton, Chris James and Phoenix youngster Costa Barbarouses.

Herbert is playing his cards close to his chest but is understood to be closely monitoring the progress of Ipswich Town 19-year-old Tommy Smith.

Smith, a left-footed central defender, was born in England but spent much of his youth in New Zealand – he went to school in Auckland and was involved in national programmes – and holds dual nationality.

He has already played for the England under-17 team but the same Fifa rule change that allowed Rory Fallon and Michael McGlinchey to switch allegiances earlier this year and play for the All Whites would also apply to Smith.

He is a product of English Championship side Ipswich Town's academy system.

Meanwhile, veteran Wellington midfielder Simon Elliott will return to the United States tomorrow and start getting himself ready for a big 2010.

Elliott, 35, battled a hip injury all last week and was ruled out of the Bahrain match on the Friday night, watching from the bench as his team-mates did the job.

All Whites skipper Ryan Nelsen said his good friend, "the old man" as he called him, had to keep going because "he's got a World Cup to go to now."

Elliott, who plays for the San Jose Earthquakes, plans to.

"It doesn't happen too often so it's a case of getting fit now and getting back playing," he said as he enjoyed some family time this week.

The former English Premier League player said he didn't feel he had missed out by not playing the big match in his home town.

"Missing out on what? I was delighted for the boys. It's been a long campaign and injuries happen. If I could have run, I would have played. The first sprint I would have done, it [his hip] would've gone."

- © Fairfax NZ News