Soccer: Forgotten man may yet get time in the sun

Michael McGlinchey. Photo / Brett Phibbs

In the midst of the drama, excitement and pure joy that was the All Whites' World Cup adventure, one player seemed to have fallen completely by the wayside.

Michael McGlinchey was the forgotten man of the South African adventure, as the dynamic midfielder did not register a single minute across the three group matches.

It was arguably one of the bigger selection mysteries in South Africa. The 23-year-old admits his time at Fifa's biggest show remains a bitter-sweet memory.

"By the Paraguay game, you have not played a single minute - your World Cup is coming to an end in 20 minutes - and you are sitting on the bench," he remembers. "You just want to go and say to the manager 'put me on' but you can't - so you sit there and wait your time.

"It was that game especially where I felt I could've made an impact. I felt I could've broken through and been more of a link between midfield and attack. It wasn't to be and I'm disappointed - but that's football."

McGlinchey had made a swift impact in his first few matches after declaring his allegiance for New Zealand in 2009. He featured prominently when thrown into the fray in the first leg against Bahrain in Manama, sparking several promising attacks.

He was solid under intense pressure in Wellington, then added impetus when brought on against Mexico in Los Angeles.

The former Celtic and Motherwell player played the second half in the last-minute 2-1 loss to Australia at the MCG and then has not been seen since.

After missing the 1-0 win over Serbia with a hamstring strain, he gradually fell out of favour as coach Ricki Herbert opted for the more combative styles of Jeremy Christie and Ivan Vicelich.

"Looking back, I don't have any regrets about how I trained," says McGlinchey.

"I felt as if I trained as hard as I could to get on the pitch. The feedback was that I was doing well. We had a good chat and they [All Whites coaches Ricki Herbert and Brian Turner] told me I wasn't far away from it."

While it is impossible to quibble with the results, the decision not to use McGlinchey at all still seems a little puzzling. While the Italy match was all about hanging on and fighting a desperate rearguard action, in the second half against Slovakia and Paraguay, the game seemed to be drifting away from New Zealand.

They desperately needed some attacking inspiration and energy as the older legs of Simon Elliott and Vicelich tired and the expanse between midfield and attack became bigger.

The thought persists: Will the All Whites ever have a better chance to make the knockout stages of the World Cup?

Herbert says the non-appearance of McGlinchey was all down to the tactical formation: "I wanted to play three attacking strikers so to have an attacking midfielder as well would have stretched the team. He would have been disappointed not to play but that is life."

Critics would point out that the 3-4-3 formation often became more like 5-4-1, with strikers Shane Smeltz and Chris Killen employed in midfield as the pressure went on. The lack of a genuine attacking threat from midfield, someone who could run at defenders and make them think twice while also providing an outlet further up the park, may have been the missing piece in Herbert's well-constructed puzzle.

Released from the cut-throat competition of the World Cup, Herbert is now adamant that McGlinchey will get his chance.

"He is a really exciting talent," says Herbert. "He can beat fullbacks, he is lively, he can play off the striker, he can play in behind a front two. I think he has got a lot of permutations which should give him a lot of chances to play.

"He can offer something different for us and I think his time in the sun will come now."