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South Africa's Katlego Mashego, left, vies for the ball with New Zealand's Andy Boyens during their Confederations Cup Group A soccer match at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa, Wednesday, June 17, 2009. South Africa won 2-0. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
D-day looms for New Zealand’s All Whites. They are one game away from World Cup qualification for the first time since 1982, and they face a do or die clash in Wellington on Saturday in a similar scenario to what the Socceroos faced in November 2005.
And like the Socceroos’ playoff qualification, victory for the All Whites could have a lasting impact for football in the country, and across the Tasman.
But the political quagmire New Zealand football finds itself in, namely through the Wellington Phoenix – the biggest contributor of players and officials to the All Whites – threatens to overshadow the occasion.
AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam has stated that it is unacceptable that a team – Wellington Phoenix – from a country outside of the Asian confederation is allowed to play, and prosper, in an Asian domestic league, especially when that nation could potentially knock out an Asian country in a World Cup playoff thanks, in no small part, to the experience of playing in that league.
It is certainly an odd situation, and an absurd system, one that FIFA and the AFC, with their differing positions on Wellington’s place in the region, have failed to act on with any great conviction.
Neither have they shown much concern for the plight of the Phoenix, New Zealand and the greater Oceania region.
Wellington Phoenix is in no-man’s land.
Unable to qualify for either the Asian Champions League or OFC continental club competition, their future in the A-League remains in limbo.
Even its attempts to develop a youth team in either Australia or New Zealand have been scuppered by their licence uncertainty.
The sad irony is victory against Bahrain on the weekend would further infuriate the powers that be at the AFC, and it could condemn the Phoenix in their plight to remain in the A-League.
It’s a grossly unfair situation.
Australia is sort of the meat in the sandwich in this situation, and although the FFA has backed Wellington’s future in the A-League, it needs to be careful not to get off side with the AFC.
So, whom do we back – our Asian counterparts or our Kiwi neighbours?
Some, such as Scott McIntyre writing on the SBS World Game site, suggest we should be backing our Asian brethren over our Tasman neighbours.
McIntyre argues Australians should be backing Bahrain as a way of showing our support and gratitude to the Asian confederation, especially in light of what he claims is a “genuine ambiguity towards Asian football.”
He states: “A good way to begin changing that perception would be for Australia to throw its full support behind the bid of one of smallest Asian nations as it attempts to create history.”
He is also correct in saying Bahrain qualifying would be even more a fairytale story considering it is more of a minnow than New Zealand.
These are salient points. But I can’t help but feel there is more to be gained for Australia in seeing the All Whites qualify.
The A-League, as the nearest and most accessible professional competition to New Zealand, will be the biggest benefactor of a rise in interest in the game, leading to more Kiwis playing the game – even if the Wellington Phoenix is booted out of the competition.
New Zealand will always be our closest and most associated football ally, and there is more to be gained for the Australian game if the All Whites qualify rather than Bahrain, political machinations aside. Having both Australia and New Zealand in South Africa will be an enormous achievement for football in our part of the world, and a huge fillip for the A-League, without whom the All Whites – through the Phoenix – may not be in this situation.
Although well embedded in Asia, Australia should never forget its former home.
Forget the notion of our need to support our Asian counterparts over the Oceania ‘outsiders’.
As I wrote in a previous column on the eve of the Confederations Cup: “Although it goes against our countries sporting ethos, we should all be cheering for the All Whites.”
Good luck to the All Whites. Let’s hope we see them in South Africa.