While Cannavaro had a difficult afternoon at the heart of the Italian defence during the 1-1 draw, Nelsen was superb in the middle of New Zealand's. Even when his less experienced team mates looked ready to buckle in the face of intense Italian pressure, the 32-year-old stood strong.
Nelsen is one of the few New Zealanders to play regularly at the highest level in European club soccer, for Blackburn Rovers in the English premier league.
"The rest of the team don't play against world class players so they don't see that they make a lot of mistakes too and that they're very human," Nelsen said after the match.
"That's what I was trying to tell the boys. Most of our guys are better athletes and when you're a better athlete, you're stronger and faster and you can really do things."
"Every muscle in my legs cramped, I couldn't even move," he said. "But when you've worked so hard for 85 minutes you're not going to give up in the last five minutes."
"Around the world now, I think New Zealand are everyone's second favourite team," he said. "It's a real Cinderella story.
