All White Ryan Thomas has had a frustrating time in football with injury and unavailability. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
All White Ryan Thomas' knees have improved, but he admits his English has not since he last played for the national team.
Thomas' international fortunes have not taken the trajectory many expected, when he debuted as a teenager in 2014, and more than a decade later, he is entering uncharted territory.
He last took the field for New Zealand in a 2019 loss to Ireland, but his career has been limited to just 19 appearances for New Zealand, due to injury and unavailability.
Six years on, the midfielder has been included in the squad for two games against Australia - a nation he has never played before. The trans-Tasman rivalry was a big driver behind his return.
The 30-year-old - who has had significant knee injuries, as well as an injury to an ankle and an elbow - admits he has struggled for full fitness and thought he would not play international football again.
"I've contemplated a lot of times quitting, just thinking that I don't see the point anymore," Thomas said. "It was tough mentally coming back every day, knowing you're going to have a problem today or you're going to fall out of training, or something is not going to be good.
"That's made me a better person and it's also made me a stronger person, and it's made me play a lot different now to where I don't really have stress on the pitch. I'm just happy to be on the pitch."
Three years ago, Thomas was diagnosed with a condition more common in rugby players or basketballers than footballers, which led to surgery that changed the course of his career.
"My kneecaps on both sides were just too high, sitting too high in the joint, and it's not really common... but normally, around 26-27 years old, you start feeling problems and start getting fluid.
"You kind of break your shinbone, pull the patellar tendon down, so that the patellar comes down and, with two screws, [surgeons] just set it on the shinbone again, where it's supposed to be, and since that operation, it's been great.
"It changes the way you run, how your muscles work, your hamstrings, your quads, your hips, so I had a lot of niggles with that sort of stuff the first year, but I'd say, since the beginning of this year - the last 6-7 months - I've had no problems whatsoever.
"My knees are completely fine, I can go in the gym and I can put some weights on the bar now. I don't just have to do bodyweight stuff, I'm just where I should have been when I was 22."
Ryan Thomas on debut against Japan in 2014, battling Hiroki Sakai. Photo: Photosport
Thomas has reached full fitness at the right time.
The All Whites have qualified for next year's FIFA World Cup, and the games against the Socceroos on Friday and next Tuesday - as well as the upcoming games against Poland and Norway - are an opportunity for players to impress coach Darren Bazeley.
Bazeley has long been a fan of Thomas and the pair kept in regular contact, even though Thomas did not feel ready to come back until now.
"It was not exactly how I planned, but now that I am fit, it's obviously great that, hopefully, if all goes well, I can be a part of [the World Cup].
"I told Baze when I came in, I'm not looking to come in and play every game, and play every minute. I will definitely do that if he wants me to and it's possible, but I'm just really happy be part of the group again and being a part of something bigger than just club football.
"It shouldn't be that you come into a national team and you're thinking, 'I'm 100 percent going to play or I'm definitely playing 90 minutes'. It should be I hope to get some minutes, or I'm hoping I'm better than so-and-so for this camp or for this team."
Thomas has played club football in the Netherlands for the past 12 years and currently captains PEC Zwolle, a side he joined in late 2022.
After growing up playing football with many of the current All Whites, the transition back into the national team has been seamless - for the most part.
"You can probably hear in my accent now, I'm not exactly a Kiwi anymore and it kind of annoys me," Thomas admitted. "I've been back in camp now for two days and my English is terrible, because obviously now speaking fluent Dutch for the last five years.
"I'm only speaking English when I'm speaking with my parents once a week and now, coming into camp, I feel like a little bit of an idiot, trying to have a conversation with some of the guys in English, so it's quite funny."
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