Injured Durante out of Peru clash
Andrew Durante will miss New Zealand’s Fifa World Cup playoff against Peru.
The 35-year-old was diagnosed yesterday with a groin adductor injury, sustained late in the Wellington Phoenix’s 3-2 loss to Sydney FC on Sunday night.
It will mean at least eight weeks on the sidelines, which gives him no chance of being fit for the twolegged qualifier against the South American nation on November 11 in Wellington and November 16 (NZ time) in Lima.
It was a big blow for the Phoenix skipper, with this set to be his last crack at playing in such a set of matches.
The Australia-born defender made his All Whites debut in 2013 after gaining New Zealand citizenship and started both games of the 9-3 aggregate loss to Mexico in that year’s World Cup playoff. If the All Whites fail to beat Peru, then his national team career might be over.
It should also cause a headache for All Whites coach Anthony Hudson, although one potentially of his own making.
Durante would certainly have been in the squad for the November games and may have started in the back three depending on how fit Tommy Smith is.
Smith has been sidelined with a hamstring injury recently, but has made two appearances for Ipswich Town’s under-23s team and was on the bench for the first team as they lost 1-0 to Sheffield United on Sunday. The most likely beneficiary of Durante’s injury would be Sunderland defender Sam Brotherton, who was expected to miss selection if Durante and Smith were fit.
The reason it could be of Hudson’s making was because Durante returned from the Confederations Cup with a sports hernia. He played through the injury at the tournament, but it required surgery when he returned and delayed the start of his pre-season.
The All Whites went through rigorous fitness training in the leadup to that tournament after Hudson identified many of the players were not fit enough to compete.
There has been a simmering feeling in the Phoenix camp that over-training led to Durante’s injury.
It was also a massive blow for the Phoenix, with fellow firstchoice centreback Marco Rossi struggling with a groin injury of his own. That will force another backline reshuffle this weekend against Melbourne City.