Soccer: All is happy in the house of Elliott

Simon Elliott has had many setbacks on his way to the biggest challenge of his career. Photo / Getty Images

Injuries have done their darnedest, and circumstance has not always been kind.

Age, however, has not wearied Simon Elliott, the senior All White starter and midfield glue in front of Ricki Herbert's three-man defensive line. He is a survivor of 15 years in international soccer, New Zealand style.

About to turn 36, Elliott is without a club, having been harshly cut by San Jose. Once the bane of his life, his repaired Achilles tendons are now beacons of hope.

"I've got the Achilles of an 18-year-old," says Elliott, a man not prone to giving up.

Elliott was a trailblazer perhaps, heading to America in the late 1990s. Ryan Nelsen, also a Stanford University graduate, is among these All Whites who followed this path.

A look through the squad tells a story of mad adventure, of traipsing the world, sleeping on floors, touching the greats and battling for wages and recognition.

Elliott has gone from Wellington to Manchester, and points in between that include four American clubs.

Nearly a decade ago, and thanks to the power of his Stanford University coach, the Scot Bobby Clark - a former New Zealand coach who became a major influence on his career - Elliott trained for two months with the Manchester United first team, sharing fields with Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Co.

You have to prompt Elliott for this story, and he doesn't do gosh-gee-whiz about rubbing shoulders with soccer legends.

His Manchester memories are technical. If you made a good run, you got a good pass. Options were plenty for the man on the ball. The lack of a work permit didn't help his chances of staying.

A few seasons later, during one of a dozen games for English Premier League club Fulham, he was back at Old Trafford.

"It's quite funny, playing in front of 76,000, and being able to hear a pin drop," he says. "We eventually lost, but I learnt that you can even rattle a side as good as that."

You might also hear a pin drop when Elliott's name comes up in soccer discussions.

He quietly polarises opinions, appreciated far more by insiders than the crowd at times.

A pen portrait in the Herald's World Cup magazine suggested Elliott might not see much game time in South Africa. Yet Sunday Star-Times columnist Billy Harris, the former All White, nominated him among four key players, alongside goalkeeper Mark Paston, Nelsen and Rory Fallon.

Elliott has, indeed, been pivotal in an encouraging performance against Australia, and the remarkable win over Serbia, in his defensive midfield duties and, especially against Australia, via his long balls to big Fallon and mates.

This from a man cut late by his San Jose club on the eve of the 2010 season and World Cup campaign.

Having three weeks earlier negotiated what Elliott thought was a safe deal, the northern Californian club did a u-turn, citing his age and absence during the World Cup.

Such is the soccer life in America, but the timing angered Elliott.

Elliott, whose American fiance, Sarah Medeiros, lives in Los Angeles, immediately charged off to a former club of his, Los Angeles Galaxy, where he was able to continue training.

Elliott's general recall is matter of fact, and not heavy on facts. Mention the word injury, though, and the pace picks up on both fronts.

He details the damage to both Achilles tendons that ended his days with Fulham two years ago. The first happened not far from where the All Whites are currently camped in Austria, during a pre-season venture.

The second was through misadventure, a clean-up mission gone wrong, where a water-pressure injection split the right tendon from top to bottom.

In all, 18 months of rehabilitation was needed, including long hours of exercises and walking.

If you have to squeeze names like Scholes and Keane out of Elliott, that of Hakan Alfredson - a Swedish professor of sports medicine, orthopaedic surgeon and tendon-repairing genius - flies off his lips.

After months of depressingly confused diagnosis in England, Elliott was rejuvenated within minutes of meeting the Swede.

"I was met by this really nice relaxed man who took me into his office where I lay face down on a bed,' says Elliott. "He looked at the way my ankle was hanging, did a quick ultrasound, the whole process took 15 to 20 minutes.

"He said this is what you've done, this is what we need to do, and this is how long you will be out for. And that was it.

"It was such a relief to have someone actually pinpoint it. It was an indescribable feeling.

"After the surgery it was a massive challenge to come through it. But I haven't had a single problem since I came back. I've been able to play the same way. That's the amazing thing.

"I ended up learning a bit about tendons - they regenerate and remodel. After surgery they are a lot thicker and fatter but get thinner and stronger over time and are able to handle load and acceleration.

"If it hadn't been for Hakan, I wouldn't be playing - my career would have been done three years ago."

Not to mention missing a World Cup.

There have been inevitable ups and downs with the All Whites, but Elliott's international career is on a high as his club career threatens to go the other way.

He praises the All Whites' set-up, and the discipline and structure on the field which he says is enabling the side to turn defence into attack.

If people did question his place and pace, so be it because at least the public is talking about the All Whites. He wants a new club after the World Cup.

The hair may be thinning but so are those tendons. In his own restrained way, Elliott insists he isn't done yet.