The China Mail - Braintree to City of Angels: NZ veteran's unlikely World Cup journey

Smith's club Braintree Town were relegated to the sixth tier of English football at the end of the season, but the 36-year-old centre-back still earned a shock call-up to New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley's World Cup squad.

His defensive teammates have been plying their trade in Australia's A-League, Major League Soccer or England's second-tier Championship.

But Smith's most recent match, a 5-1 defeat at Tamworth, took place in front of just over 1,000 fans.

It is a far cry from the expected 70,000 expected to watch New Zealand's first World Cup assignment against Iran on June 15 in Los Angeles.

"The only reason I'm playing football is to remain part of the All Whites, to be brutally honest," Smith told the Unused Subs podcast before Bazeley announced his squad.

"If I'd been told by Darren: 'Look, you're no longer going to be selected,' that would be me, I'd retire from football and move on to the next chapter.

"So that's how much it means to me and how much I'm putting into it."

Smith previously spent 12 years at Ipswich Town, making 267 appearances in the English Championship.

In 2018 he left for Major League Soccer, playing two seasons for Colorado Rapids before returning to England with Sunderland in League One and Colchester United in League Two.

Most recently for Macarthur and Auckland FC in the A-League, before returning to England and Braintree Town, whose stadium holds just 4,222.

Bazeley said he selected Smith for the World Cup not necessarily for his potential on-field contributions.

- 'I'm a realist' -

"Part of the selection criteria is, do you add value off the pitch? Do you add to the culture, to the leadership?" Bazeley said.

"Tommy's a bit of a cultural architect. He's been doing that role for a number of years. He also takes a lot of weight off of the other leaders."

Smith acknowledged his role in the squad.

"I'm a realist," Smith said.

"The centre-backs that are ahead of me in the pecking order are playing at a fantastic level.

"My minutes are probably going to be limited, and that's fine.

"My job now is to make everybody in that squad be in the best shape, mentally and physically, for the games that we have."

Smith was 20 when he went to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa along with an 18-year-old Chris Wood.

Smith started all three games alongside Premier League centre-backs Ryan Nelsen and Winston Reid as New Zealand went unbeaten against Paraguay, Slovakia and Italy.

"To be able to talk to us about those experiences and just pass on the knowledge of the game that we've accumulated over the years, I see real value in my part to play," Smith said.

Striker Wood, who will captain New Zealand at the World Cup, agreed with Smith.

"He's going to bring a lot of experience," said the Nottingham Forest star -- the only other survivor from the 2010 squad.

"He's got a lot more experience than I do in that sense because he started and played all of those games. So he can help out the team a lot more than I can"

After facing Iran in Los Angeles, New Zealand will move to Canada for their last two Group G matches against Belgium and Egypt in Vancouver.

"I can share my experiences as well, but I think he'll be vital in that sense of understanding the occasion that we all have to play in." said Wood.

"And then the process of dealing with the occasion, everything around it."

B.Carter--ThChM