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New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert, left, and captain Ryan Nelsen reacts after their team's 1-0 win over Bahrain in the World Cup qualifying playoff second leg soccer match at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/NZPA, Ross Setford)
A Rory Fallon header and a Mark Paston penalty save have sent the New Zealand All Whites through to the World Cup for the first time since 1982; the first time ever they’ll compete alongside Australia on the biggest stage. Whether you were cheering for the All Whites or not, you cannot deny this is a landmark occasion for football on both sides of the Tasman.
The playoff may not have matched the intensity of Australia’s shootout triumph four years ago, but it was certainly edge of your seat stuff.
Fallon’s brilliant header from a Leo Bertos corner proved the difference in the end, while Paston’s save echoed Mark Schwarzer’s heroics from four years ago.
There were scenes reminiscent of Sydney four years ago when the final whistle blew and Wellington erupted.
Now, in the aftermath of the famous victory, attention turns to 2010 and two questions loom. Firstly, are they ready for what awaits them in South Africa? Secondly, what will the political fallout of their success be?
The AFC won’t be impressed that they have had one of their nation’s bundled out by a national team made up primarily of a club allowed to play within an Asian league, as explained here.
What impact that has on the Wellington Phoenix remains to be seen.
And there will certainly be questions asked about the relatively easy path an Oceania confederation without Australia has to World Cup qualification.
As Kiwi journo Steve Mcmorran pointed out : “New Zealand will therefore achieve an unusual distinction if it manages to qualify. It will likely become the first nation in World Cup history to qualify without defeating a country with a population of more than one million.”
Surely the AFC and other confederations will force FIFA to examine this situation.
As the New Zealand press had stressed before the qualifier, the All Whites will probably never have a better opportunity to qualify.
The pressure will be on New Zealand to justify their place at the World Cup.
While they have the experience of the Confederations Cup campaign in South Africa this year, even their most ardent supporters will agree they could be well out of their depth at the World Cup.
Renowned journalist Matthew Hall, writing for SBS Sport, probably summed up the feelings of many football fans when he claimed the Bahrain-New Zealand clash was a contest “to discover who will be the worst team in South Africa.”
Worrying is the fact that aside from the likes of Ryan Nelsen, Chris Killen and goal scorer Rory Fallon, the All Whites are primarily made up of players from the A-League, the MLS and the domestic football championship.
The early finish of the A-League – compounded if the Wellington Phoenix fails to make the final six – along with the out of sync MLS will make it difficult for their players to stay match fit until the World Cup.
But perhaps we should put aside those concerns for a future day.
Today they should be celebrating this remarkable achievement and acknowledging Ricki Herbert and his team for the progress New Zealand football has made.
It is a huge fillip for the fortunes for the game in the rugby-dominated land, not to mention for the Phoenix who will undoubtedly be galvanised for the remainder of the A-League; hopefully off-field too with a boost in interest.
New Zealand’s victory can also be seen as a victory for the league itself with seven of the starting eleven plying their trade in the A-League.
With A-Leaguers a rarity in the Socceroos – only Jason Culina and Craig Moore are likely World Cup starters, and that may be dependent on how they are able to elongate their seasons beyond the A-League – the presence of the All Whites immediately multiplies the number of Australian league representatives in South Africa.
For the likes of Shane Smeltz, Michael McGlinchey, Mark Paston, etc, the experience of a World Cup will make them better players.
It’s certainly shaping up as a World Cup for the minnows.
There is Honduras; like the All Whites in a World Cup for the second time, ironically appearing in the same tournament as New Zealand in Spain, 1982, and a country suffering political crisis at home following a military coup in June.
North Korea will make their first appearance since 1966, the rogue state joining their southern rivals.
Slovakia has qualified for the first time, Chile return for the first time since France 1998, while the African qualifiers remain in the balance with North Africa re-emerging as a force on the continent.
Fittingly for a World Cup bringing the game to a new frontier – the first on the African continent – all confederations will be represented.
It’ll be a World Cup in the truest sense of the word.