Football: Vicelich receives New Years Honour

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to football

Every time Ivan Vicelich retires from the All Whites, something great happens for New Zealand football.

In 2008, at the ripe age of 31, the rangy defender decided to put his family ahead of his ageing international legs. A year later, after reversing that decision, Vicelich played a key role in helping New Zealand to their first World Cup in 32 years, and then played in every match as they went unbeaten in South Africa.

At the start of this year, Vicelich retired again. Then aged 37 and the most-capped All White of all time, the ride was finally over, right? Wrong.

This month Vicelich, now 38, captained semi-professional outfit Auckland City FC to third at the Fifa Club World Cup. And he won the Bronze Cup - awarded to the third-best player of the tournament, beaten only by Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos.

To put that into perspective, Vicelich owns and runs a sports shop in Mt Eden - Ronaldo and Ramos each earn more than $200,000 a week playing football.

Today, Vicelich's services to football have been celebrated with an appointment to the Order of Merit.

"It's a huge honour to be recognised for my contribution," Vicelich said. "Football is a growing sport in New Zealand and I'm happy to be recognised for helping build that following."

Vicelich described his Club World Cup success as being "right up there" with his World Cup experience.

"They were both great and career highlights. Being part of the World Cup was a dream come true and to come third now at a Fifa tournament is also a dream come true."

Playing against champion sides from Morocco, Africa and South and North America doesn't seem so daunting if you have experienced a 1-1 draw with the defending champions at a World Cup, and Vicelich's confidence was infectious. Here's hoping he gets another All Whites call-up, then retires again soon.