During the past 18 months soon-to-be All White Craig Henderson has picked up his first professional contract, been called up twice to the New Zealand national team and had three operations on his right knee - all without playing a competitive game of football.
In one of the more extraordinary opening chapters to a professional career, Henderson, a 23-year-old attacking midfielder from Wellington and a former United States college star, has spent the majority of the past 1-1/2 years either in a gym, on a training paddock, or under the surgeon's knife.
Adding to the story, he was called up to the All Whites for a pre-World Cup match in March last year but had to pull out because of a cruciate ligament injury.
That damned right knee also thwarted his World Cup aspirations - All Whites coach Ricki Herbert has said Henderson would have been in the squad - and went on to scupper his entire first year with Swedish top flight club Mjallby.
He still hasn't played a game for his club, 18 months after joining them on a three-year contract from Ivy Leaguers Dartmouth College.
Nevertheless, the former New Zealand age group representative has been selected on reputation and potential in Herbert's latest national squad, for friendlies against Mexico in Denver and Australia in Adelaide early next month.
"I'm slowly working my way back. It's been a long process, but I'm getting there," Henderson told NZPA from his home in Mjallby, a small fishing town in the south of Sweden with a population of close to 1000.
"The knee is feeling great now. It's just a matter of getting the rest of the leg in football shape."
Henderson sustained the knee injury in pre-season training with Mjallby early last year.
He initially thought he'd miss about eight months but his first operation in March last year revealed more damage than was initially thought, so he had to go under the surgeon's knife again in May.
His knee was so inflamed after the second operation that he required a third operation, this time performed in the United States in October.
"It was really disappointing that I had to have that third operation because I had to rest for a good month after it and that took away all the hard work I'd done over the year. It set me back a bit."
After completing countless hours with a personal trainer, on the bike and in the gym, Henderson has been training with his teammates during the past couple of months but has not appeared during the first eight rounds of the Swedish Allsvenskan, which runs from March until October.
He reckons the best case scenario before the All Whites' matches might be getting 30 minutes off the bench for Mjallby's reserve/under-21 team. So the 2008 Beijing Olympian may have to wait a little longer for that elusive All Whites cap.
"I've been a bit on and off the training paddock because I've had a couple of hamstring niggles, which is apparently to be expected coming back from the knee injury. But I'm feeling good at the moment and hopefully I can get a game in before the tour," he said.
"I'd like to think I'll be fit to play in one of the two internationals. It's a little nerve racking thinking about it because I haven't really played a game of football in nearly 18 months. I'm pretty confident with the knee, it's just getting the surrounding muscles up to speed."
Asked if he could remember his last game of football, Henderson paused, an expletive understandably slipped out, then: "My last game for Dartmouth at the end of 2009, it's just been training or rehab since."
He added: "I'm really pretty fortunate that Ricki has kept me on the radar, to be honest, and I'm extremely excited to get another callup.
"I'm going to make sure I do things right in the next few weeks so I'm in good condition when I arrive in camp."
Henderson is in good spirits, saying he has enjoyed his time in Sweden despite the injury struggles and he appreciates his club's support.
"It has been tough, but the club has been very supportive. Not playing a game in your first season, you don't feel too good about that, but I've got the rest of this season and another season to show what I can do for them.
"It's a really good place for me to kick off my professional career, I feel it's somewhere I can play well and show myself. Once I'm playing I'll be a lot happier."
Henderson said the team, currently 13th of 16 teams in the top tier, were "a good bunch of lads'' with several foreigners - the recent signing of an American means he can speak full English to at least one player - but Mjallby is a small town with little to occupy the mind of an intelligent, injured footballer.
"It's pretty casual. They close everything on Sunday, it's like they're in the 1970s or something."
So there has been plenty of time to learn the local lingo, time Henderson hopes will now be spent on the football pitch.
- NZPA
Soccer: Henderson hopes for turnaround in fortunes
Craig Henderson. Photo / Getty Images
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