Soccer: Brown 'optimistic' despite injury

The brutality encountered by Leo Bertos was the focal point, but two lower profile tackles on Tim Brown today emerged as a potential setback to New Zealand's World Cup campaign after last night's soccer friendly against Australia.

Brown was rushed to Auckland from a Melbourne hospital today for surgery on a shoulder fractured during the first half of the All Whites' 1-2 loss to the Socceroos at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 27-year-old was to be assessed by orthopaedic surgeon Stu Walsh before undergoing a procedure that will determine whether the tireless midfielder can rejoin his teammates in South Africa.

Brown's predicament cast a pall over Ricki Herbert's squad as they departed for Austria today for the first of two European warmup games against Serbia on Sunday (NZT).

Defender Beg Sigmund summed up the despondency: "Tim's the one doing all the running, making all the tackles... we're going to miss him if he's not there."

Capped 28 times, Brown has been an automatic choice during Herbert's five-year regime and will leave a massive void if he can't recover within a tight time frame.

"I'm not holding my breath but we're certainly going to give him every possible time," Herbert said after an emotional phone call to Brown.

"It's trying times for him. A dedicated person like Tim, to have this happen is quite devastating.

"He's an integral part of the team; he does a great job for us. It'll be a big loss, should that happen."

Herbert said he was willing to give Brown until New Zealand's second group F match against defending champions Italy on June 20 to be available. The All Whites' Cup opener against Slovakia, five days earlier, was touch and go at best.

"It's three weeks to the opening game... it's not a lot of time but Tim's got good resolve, he's just an incredibly fit boy and they seem to heal quicker," he said.

Team doctor Celeste Geertsema initially treated Brown on the sidelines.

"It's reasonably serious but not serious enough that it will definitely rule him out of the World Cup," she said.

"Tim was quite upbeat about it, he's optimistic he'll get back in time."

Cover for Brown was expected to be added today, with Team Wellington midfielder Cole Peverley the likely candidate to join the squad in Europe.

"He's a shot to come in," Herbert said of the 21-year-old.

"He's a good young kid but you lose a player with a wealth of international experience. It's not like for like, that's for sure."

Brown, who was closely marked throughout, suffered the injury midway through the first half when landing awkwardly. He bounced back but aggravated it five minutes before the break after another tough tangle.

Those challenges were overlooked in the wake of the treatment meted out to Bertos by Vince Grella and Tim Cahill, who were both yellow carded after dangerously connecting with the midfielder's right shin.

Bertos was soon on his feet after being stretchered off and was cleared to travel today, although he is unlikely to feature against Serbia.

Though Brown's misfortune was an unfortunate side-effect of a rare trans-Tasman clash, Herbert was encouraged by a performance spoiled by Brett Holman's 94th minute winner.

"It's been a hell of a long time, if ever, that we've dominated an Australian team of that quality for long periods of the game," he said, reflecting on a dominant first half.

While unacceptable defensive lapses contributed to Holman's killer goal, Herbert was not too critical, citing his tiring side's minimal match play since qualifying for South Africa in November and limited preparations in Auckland.

The loss of Bertos, Brown and minor injuries for Ivan Vicelich and Chris Killen also forced Herbert to play personnel out of position.

A high altitude camp in Austria should address fitness issues while the players would obviously benefit from more time together.

"There was always going to be flaws and weaknesses and things to work on.

"The major concern (against Australia) was our ability to look after the ball for longer periods of the game.

"There was a spell in the second half where we dropped off a little bit, lost our shape and got a bit tired at the top."

- NZPA