29 May 2012

All Whites lose midfielder for Oceania Nations Cup

6:08 am on 29 May 2012

The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Dan Keat has been forced out of the New Zealand football side for next month's Oceania Nations Cup tournament, with a knee injury.

His place in the squad for the tournament in the Solomon Islands, which also doubles as a World Cup qualifier, has been taken by goalkeeper Jake Gleeson.

After encouraging performances in Texas, against El Salvador and Honduras, All Whites coach Ricki Herbert has decided he's satisfied with his midfield stocks and has called in Gleeson as goalkeeping cover for Mark Paston and Glen Moss.

Gleeson, the New Zealand Olympic team goalkeeper, has been training with the squad in Texas for the past week.

New Zealand's first game at the eight nations Oceania Nations Cup is against Fiji on Saturday followed by games against Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

The winner of the tournament qualifies for the Confederations Cup and the four semi-finalists progress to the next stage of World Cup qualifying.