Soccer: Tripped up on Brockie road

Jeremy Brockie has had plenty of ups and downs in his career. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Jeremy Brockie probably shouldn't have been that surprised.

The day after it was announced David Beckham and his LA Galaxy would be playing Brockie's Newcastle side at the end of November, the All Whites striker was caught late in training. An x-ray confirmed his fears. He had broken his right ankle.

Call it bad luck, bad karma, bad timing ... it seems bad things happen to Brockie just when it starts to look good. It's fair to say he's experienced more highs and lows than a Christchurch seismograph.

Take the last 15 months. The thrill of being handed a start in the All Whites' first match at last year's Confederations Cup was quickly followed by despondency as he was cast as the fall-guy in a 5-0 defeat to Spain.

A return to the A-League with North Queensland after two seasons away was backed up by the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup qualifiers against Bahrain because of injury. A run of good form for the Fury and the prospect of playing at the World Cup was cut down by a broken leg.

A surprise call-up to the World Cup and time against Paraguay in South Africa was followed by a broken foot.

Brockie has experienced more in his 23 years than a 33-year-old professional coming to the end of his career.

"Every time something big in my career pops up, I seem to fall apart again," Brockie says phlegmatically as he lies on his couch in Newcastle with his crutches beside him. "I had the broken leg before the World Cup, I had a little tear in my calf before this A-League started and a tear in my groin before the two internationals [against Honduras and Paraguay].

"It was on the Wednesday that it was announced David Beckham was coming to play Newcastle and the next day I broke my foot. Every time something big pops up, I get injured, which is really disappointing.

"It's happened to me enough times now, I just have to stay positive. Injuries are part of the game. Every time I come back from an injury, I talk to my dad and he thinks I've had my fair share now. Maybe one day it will be the end of them."

Brockie thought his international career was essentially over after the 5-0 thumping by Spain at last year's Confederations Cup. He was dragged after just 27 minutes as Spain attacked down New Zealand's right at will and jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

The former New Zealand Knights striker took his substitution personally and wondered whether he'd play for New Zealand again at that level.

It was hard for him to rationalise that, no matter who the All Whites had out that day, they would have likely been torn apart by a skilful and slick Spain who went on to win the World Cup.

He was dropped for the second game against South Africa but handed a start against Iraq in New Zealand's 0-0 draw. That was important. If he hadn't played that match, and played reasonably well, he might have stewed on that Spain game for some time.

He certainly mulled over his World Cup chances, especially after he had broken his leg in the first five minutes of a 1-1 draw with Brisbane in January.

"It was only four months out from the World Cup team being named," Brockie remembers. "As soon as the challenge went in and I was lying on the ground and the physio asked me to wiggle my toes - I could feel the two bones rubbing together so I knew it was bad news. The first thought was, 'there goes my World Cup'."

That he made it was remarkable. The All Whites coaches at the 10-day training camp in Auckland, that doubled as a final trial, didn't think he would.

"After the first training session in Auckland, [All Whites assistant coach] Brian Turner came up to me and said, 'Jesus, we weren't expecting that from you. We were wondering what you were going to be like.'

"I had to go 100 per cent in every training session and show that the leg wasn't giving me any problems. It was a bit painful during the sessions but I couldn't show that because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent my country at a World Cup."

Brockie played 11 minutes in the 0-0 draw with Paraguay in South Africa and was then a standout in the All Whites' home internationals against Honduras and Paraguay. It seemed like he was finding his feet at international level. Instead, a Newcastle team-mate clattered into one late in training and broke it.

"I will still look on 2010 as a pretty positive year. The injuries are disappointing but the way I have fought back from them ... it was good to get the reward of the World Cup. It was one of my only goals I hadn't ticked off since I was a young boy.

"It will definitely be the highlight of my career. While I'm also disappointed, I've still got a long way to go in my career."