As far as any dirt on the All Whites' World Cup skipper goes, this is it, as he prepares to lead his 22 team-mates into the biggest month of their football lives.
Nelsen confesses in his new book, Ryan Nelsen's Road to the World Cup, that he virtually blanked English in the All Whites' champagne-soaked dressing room after they beat Bahrain in November to qualify for South Africa.
Wearing jeans, and passing on the prime minister's congratulations, the country's second-most powerful man was confused for a random punter who had just wandered in.
"I'm still a bit embarrassed about that. I actually might write a letter to Mr English and apologise," Nelsen said.
He can be forgiven, and probably could have run for office himself after that Wellington night as he led New Zealand to its first World Cup finals in 28 years.
Several months on, and it has been a hectic return from England for Nelsen, who joined his team-mates in Auckland yesterday for their pre-World Cup camp and shook hands with the three team-mates he had never met: Europe-based defenders Tommy Smith and Winston Reid, and Aaron Clapham, the bolter from Canterbury.
Nelsen slept just three hours of the first two days of his return as he toured the country promoting his book, with public appearances and wall-to-wall interviews.
He is accustomed to the weekly media grind with Blackburn in the Premier League in the United Kingdom, but football fever here is a new experience for one of New Zealand's highest-paid sportsmen.
The highlight was a visit to his old primary school, Our Lady of the Assumption, in Christchurch.
"It was very nostalgic. I can remember myself at 5 years old sitting at the front of assembly, listening to some person speak and running out on the park and kicking a ball around.
"It was pretty cool how it's gone full circle. In 1982, 28 years ago, I was there. It was great fun."
He told prospective All Whites to tick off every box, be the best they could, and have no regrets in pursuit of their sporting dream.
For a man who banks tens of thousands of pounds a week, Nelsen admits he is "pretty boring" - no ridiculously expensive cars or overt displays of wealth, aside from one indulgence.
"I do like my wine. I'll pay for an expensive bottle of wine. That's one of my biggest weaknesses."
Nelsen was raring to go as he joined the team in Auckland to prepare for its first big test, Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday night, whose ranks include his Blackburn team-mates Brett Emerton and Vince Grella.
After their Bahrain heroics, the All Whites' confidence has increased, along with the expectations of the public.
"Of course we can beat Australia. But to be fair, it's the first stage of a plan to peak at the World Cup. If we lose 6-0 to Australia then beat Slovakia, then who cares?" Nelsen said.
"It's a fantastic game [in prospect]. There will be 80,000-90,000 Aussies there with their annoying accents driving us crazy.
"It will be a great experience for the guys to play in front of a big crowd and there will be tension because it's an Australia-New Zealand game, so that will add more pressure.
"And the public will now be talking about the possibility of beating Australia.
"That would be unheard of two years ago. This is the expectation that's now on the All Whites team and that comes with success.
"That's something a lot of players might have to learn that the better we do, the more pressure we're under, which is all good."
Then Europe beckons, for practice matches against Serbia and Slovenia, then to South Africa for a warm-up match against Chile and their tournament opener against Slovakia on June 15.
Defending champion Italy follows five days later, then Paraguay.
