Soccer: Nelsen to captain Oly-Whites

The New Zealand men's Olympic football team has taken a no-brainer decision on captaincy.

Blackburn skipper Ryan Nelsen will lead the team at the Beijing games.

Coach Stu Jacobs says even though Nelsen only recently joined the squad, his role as captain was obvious and they need to fully utilise someone of his calibre. Jacobs says they had to make the most of having such a leader around and Nelsen is used to the big stage so will not be phased.

However, Nelsen is available for just the first two games of the Olympics before having to return to Blackburn.

The Oly-Whites played a closed door fixture against Honduras last night, but have not revealed the score because it was not played under proper conditions. The team moves to Shenyang this afternoon.

- NEWSTALK ZB