All White vets for Bahrain entree

Big match: Sandbar Pub owner and former high-level goalkeeper Steve Baker will be relinquishing the safety of his bar for the Ole Soccer Academy pitch, for a one-off festival match this Saturday.

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Everyone knows there's a big football match taking place down the road at Westpac Stadium this Saturday.

The All Whites' "one shot for glory" will pit them against Bahrain for a spot at next year's World Cup in South Africa, the closest they've come since the fabled 1982 side that went to Spain.

Earlier on Saturday, however, there will be another game, featuring a host of former All Whites and national league players.

It's more of a social get-together but you can guarantee it will be just as competitive on the pitch as the World Cup qualifier to take place hours later.

Steve Baker, who was once on the books at West Ham and spent a number of years playing national league football in New Zealand, has organised a "festival game", using contacts to get a star-studded invitational team (The Bronsons) to take on his Sandbar Pub side.

They have a few ring-ins of their own, however, and won't be over-awed by the opposition.

"As soon as the World Cup match was confirmed to play at the Cake Tin I phoned a few mates and said come down for a game, and it's just snowballed.

"We're looking at having a minimum of nine All Whites on the day and there could be a couple more come in late yet."

Names confirmed include Noel Barkley (20 caps), Ron Armstrong (25), Dave Taylor (47), John Leijh (14), Andy Rennie (13) and Keith Hobbs (8), while Chris Riley (16) and Billy Wright (15) are coming in from overseas.

The Bronsons, who play a handful of festival-type matches every year, are made up of all the Auckland-based players. Baker says there will be plenty of banter with neither team wanting to lose.

"It's a great chance for a lot of us to catch up and talk about old times, have a few beers and then go to the Stadium. But it will be serious out there on the pitch, there's no doubt about that  these guys are ultra-competitive footballers after all.

"We'd love people to come along and have a look, I'm sure there's people out there who know these names."
A more recognised venue had been hoped for, but football posts have been taken down around the region for summer. Because Sandbar play under the Western Suburbs banner, Ole was procured for the event.

Buses will take patrons from the Sandbar pub to Ole and back on the day, with kickoff at noon.

Baker rates New Zealand's chances against Bahrain, saying it's potentially the biggest match of their lives, and has no doubt Saturday will be a "tremendous occasion" all-round.

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