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Tommy Smith shows his disappointment after drawing with Paraguay - Source: Reuters
The All Whites leave for Denver this afternoon without two of their brightest young talents with Tommy Smith withdrawn from the tour with a back injury and Marco Rojas ruled out of the first of two internationals due to illness.
Smith, who last night won the Nike Young Men's Player of the Year award at the 2010 New Zealand Football awards is having treatment on a prolapsed disc in his back and will miss matches against Mexico on Thursday (NZT) and Australia in Adelaide on Sunday.
Meanwhile 19-year-old Marco Rojas, who has been laid low with a viral infection and did not train while the Australian-based All Whites were in camp, has been released to recuperate with his family in Hamilton before joining the team in Australia.
Replacements for the pair will not be called up, leaving the squad at 20 players after Tony Lochhead's injury-enforced withdrawal from the original squad of 23 last week.
