New Zealand football vice-captain Tim Brown will rejoin his teammates at the World Cup in South Africa after making a ``remarkable'' recovery from surgery on his broken shoulder, the team announced Wednesday.
Midfielder Brown fractured his shoulder during New Zealand's Cup warm-up match against Australia at Melbourne on May 24. He underwent surgery in Auckland days later and was cleared by medical staff Wednesday to join New Zealand's 23-man squad at its base near Johannesburg.
A New Zealand team spokesman said Brown had made a ``remarkable recovery'' in the two weeks since his injury and operation.
New Zealand plays its first group match against Slovakia next Tuesday.
``We're thankful for the surgeon and the medical staff that looked after him for doing a tremendous job,'' New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert said in a statement. ``He has apparently come through everything so well.''
