Clarke absolutely gutted to miss out on NZ team

Wairarapa United player Michele Clarke is "absolutely gutted" at missing out on selection in the New Zealand women's soccer team which left today to contest the World Cup in China, starting next week.
Clarke failed to make the 21-strong squad despite being part of the national side which recently toured Australia and the United States.
Nothing which happened on those trips gave Clarke any indication she could be overlooked for the World Cup.
She was actually included in the starting line-up in Australia and came off the reserve bench in their two-game United States tour.
Clarke said the most disappointing aspect of her non-selection was that it meant that a year's hard toil to get herself in the right physical and mental shape for China counted for nothing. That and the fact she still had no idea why she was omitted.
"I'm still not sure why I missed out, that has never really been explained," she said
Clarke herself wouldn't say it but there is no doubt, however, that the John Herdman-coached New Zealand squad for China has a strong Auckland bias about it.
Former Wairarapa United player-coach Wendi Henderson is the only player from outside Auckland or playing overseas included in the side.
Henderson, now a member of the Upper Hutt Club, has already worn the national colours on 55 occasions and will become the first Kiwi to have played in two World Cups, after featuring in the inaugural tournament in 1991.
New Zealand has a tough draw in China, playing Brazil on September 12, Denmark on September 15 and China on September 19.
For Clarke the failure to make the World Cup is not necessarily the end of her soccer career.
Wisely, she won't make that decision until the disappointment of her non-selection is tempered by time.
She has already though gone through the recruitment process for the police force and that's where her more immediate focus lies.