By Cameron Russell
What if I told you there was a Kiwi scoring for fun and he wasn't in an All Whites squad that struggles to score goals?
No, I'm not taking about West Ham's Winston Reid who scored the winner against Manchester United in the Hammers final game at Upton Park yesterday, but a former Phoenix striker who slipped off the radar when he moved to South Africa.
Jeremy Brockie has been overlooked from the New Zealand squad, and you've got to question if his time in the white jersey is up. He's been scoring and playing regularly for SuperSport United and bagging goals from all over the pitch since he's arrived in the Premier Soccer League.
Newshub has learned that Brockie was told weeks ago he wouldn't be included in the OFC Nations Cup squad. With no reason to travel back, Brockie stayed with SuperSport while the All Whites held a wider training squad in Auckland that featuring a number of semi-professional New Zealand League players and the plastered up Rory Fallon all trying to impress and make the final cut.
Don't get me wrong, Fallon is an All Whites hero for scoring the goal that took New Zealand to the World Cup, but his recent track record of injuries and moving clubs caused many to raise an eyebrow when the 34-year-old showed up in Auckland.
Fallon signed with English League Two (now promoted to League One) side Bristol Rovers in January and made three substitute appearances off the bench, with his last coming on March 5 against Notts County. His debut against Accrington Stanley, went he came on in the 76th minute, is the most football he's played in one match for years.
He was named in the 23-man squad alongside fellow strikers Shane Smeltz, 19-year-old debutant Monty Patterson, and captain Chris Wood (Auckland City's Ryan De Vries wasn't considered for eligibility concerns).
While Brockie has a dreadful record of scoring for the All Whites (1 goal in 47 appearances), you've got to wonder if that rules him out of ever getting another chance, even though nearly all of his games came under former manager Rickie Herbert. Brockie's only All Whites goal came when Anthony Hudson took charge.
Under Hudson's six games in charge of New Zealand, Brockie has featured in four of the matches. He started in a 1-1 draw with Myanmar and came off the bench against Uzbekistan, China, and Thailand.
Maybe you could argue that All Whites coach Anthony Hudson prefers his strikers with a physical edge to them, especially coming up against island teams in the OFC Nations Cup that are weak at set-pieces.
But what can Brockie do about that? He's been making more runs in the box and has even scored a few headers.
Captain Chris Wood will lead the line, but will he be a target man in a 4-3-3 formation or could he have a striking partner? Hudson has been running 3-5-2 drills in training this week, but that's only with half the players selected in the final squad available to him.
Maybe the South African league isn't rated? Brockie scored 10 league goals in just half a season when he arrived in 2015. He's followed that up with 16 goals (all competitions) in 31 games this campaign.
In six games, Hudson has used 38 players. Today he named four uncapped players and Fallon, who hasn't played under him. With that much rotation you can't assume Brockie won't ever get a recall, but it seems like he's on the outside for now.
Newshub.
