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Saturday, 26 September 2009 14:36 |
I haven't yelled and screamed at a TV so much since I saw Rodney Hide trying to compete in "Dancing with the Stars".
I haven't spontaneously broken into tears since witnessing the birth of my two children. I haven't experienced such highs and lows in 90 minutes since about 1982!!
Such was the evening of the World Cup qualifier against Bahrain in Wellington on November the 14th. Almost 35,000 fanatical football fans showing what "true support" is really about! I propose that "Football - the beautiful game" be changed to "Football - the passionate game".
That kind of passion, commitment and shear bloody mindedness got the All Whites over the line. Don't be confused though - they have a huge road to haul and will know just how huge when the final 2010 World Cup groups are drawn on December 4th.
If you think back to 1982 - Steve Sumner and the boys had to face what were three of the best teams in the world at that time in Spain - Scotland, Brazil and Russia. Did they disgrace themselves? Hell, no!!
Just imagine that sort of line-up in 2010. Group A - Portugal, Italy, Brazil, New Zealand. I'm actually hoping we are in England's pool. The interest and fervour that would create with so many ex-pats living here would be phenomenal. But let's not delude ourselves - we were ranked 100 in the World before that Bahrain game - 83rd after it, and like the guys in 82, they will face a massive battle.
Of all the other teams likely to come up against us, only one is outside the top 50 in the world (at the time of writing this) - North Korea (91). Only one of the top 10 teams is not going to be in South African in 2010 - that team is Croatia.
So, whilst I wish them all the very best of luck and will be supporting the All Whites with the unheralded passion with which I got behind the 1987 All Blacks, I am under no illusion as to their mission. The 2009 path has been easier than that of 1982 - of that there is no doubt, and I wonder if that might be to their detriment.
But, then again, John Adshead and Kevin Fallon took a team of ostensibly "part-timers" - Ricki Herbert has the luxury of some very seasoned campaigners.
As always, go hard or go home
Gary Dickson
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