Soccer: Fallon keen for All Whites

English-based soccer striker Rory Fallon appears to set to become available for New Zealand this year.

Former England youth player Fallon, the son of former All Whites coach Kevin Fallon, has indicated he will take up an offer from national coach Ricki Herbert to play in two friendly internationals, probably in Jordan in September.

All going well, the tall striker would then be a key figure in the two-leg World Cup qualifying playoff against either Saudi Arabia or Bahrain.

Currently plying his trade for Plymouth Argyle in the English Championship, Fallon left New Zealand in his mid-teens to chase a professional career.

Previously, players to have tasted youth international s occer needed to elect the country they wanted to represent at senior level by the time they turned 21.

However, a recent eligibility rule change by governing body FIFA means players can now make that decision at any time.

Kevin Fallon said his 27-year-old son had reached the point in his career where playing for England was now beyond a possibility so he was excited about the prospect of representing New Zealand.

"He's keen, he's thought about it all," Fallon snr told Radio Sport.

"He's probably going to throw in his lot for New Zealand at international level, which is quite exciting as we're only 180 minutes away from the World Cup.

"He said `I can probably come back and do a job for the team as a target man."

Gisborne-born Fallon played a handful of games for England at youth level after joining Barnsley in 2000.

He has since played at Shrewsbury, Swindon, Yeovil, Swansea and Plymouth, who he joined in 2007.

Herbert was also likely to approach midfielder Michael McGlinchey to sound out his availability.

McGlinchey, who was recently released by Celtic, represented Scotland at under-20 level in 2007.

- NZPA