World Cup fever hits Bahrain

World Cup fever is on the simmer. It won't bubble up to boiling point till the All Whites take the pitch tomorrow morning (NZ Time)  to the screams and shouts of 35,000 Bahrainians.

After four days of training at a Dubai resort and generally staying away from the hype,  the All Whites know they're in "enemy'' territory now.

Ricki Herbert and his team wasted no time before being whisked straight to the national stadium after their plane touched down in Bahrain.

On board (up the front for a change), the All Whites were greeted with a "good luck to the New Zealand football team'' message from a plucky pilot - considering he was at the helm of an Emirates aircraft chokka block with scads of Bahrainians on board.

A row of Bahraini national team jerseys outside a souvenir shop formed an ironic backdrop at the airport as the black-clad All Whites trooped down the stairs, bound for a bus which would whisk them straight to the national stadium.

A Bahraini team poster graced a power pole near the airport. But, otherwise, you'd barely know a vital World Cup qualifier was on as you hurtle along the highway, past a stunning, back-lit mosque.

But pick up the local paper and that same team photo is plastered over the front page.

It's not long before I see something masquerading as Yellow Fever cobber _ not a Retro Ricki t-shirt but a Hurricanes' jumper.

Manama is teeming (or at least trickling) with Kiwis, many making the short hop over the Gulf from Dubai.

An advance guard reached the Bahraini capital before the team and soon settled into a traditional pre-match brunch.  

A  New Zealander was overheard less than lucidly bantering with a Bahraini hotel staffer over the outcome of the match. "3-0,'' the local said - (but I couldn't hear to whom).

Herbert faced a clump of Bahraini journalists and the odd, expatriate hack at the routine pre-match press conference. Milan Macala, the wily Czech in charge of Bahrain, had just finished his moment at the mike when Ricki and his retinue breezed in.

The Macala mind games began when he told local media that there was no chance of his players beng over confident after "being so close to the World Cup before [in 2006] and not making it. I don't think they will be taking anything for granted this time.''

The New Zealanders have, at last, seen the ground they've been visualising running out on for the last four weeks. The players ambled around the pitch at the National Stadium in Riffa, with some noting the thick sole of grass. But the stands were empty today - tomorrow morning (NZT) they'll  be crammed with Bahraini fans willing The Red to go on to the first World Cup finals in the kingdom's history.

The local press reports that the ground -  described by one visiting Kiwi as an older equivalent of North Harbour Stadium - has had a facelift. The floodlights have more horsepower, spectator and media facilities have been upgraded and a special stand set aside for women - and another for the tiny travelling band of All Whites fans and the 100-plus Kiwis working and living here.

I picked up the English language Bahrain Tribune on arrival to be confronted with what must surely be a spell-check blunder.  The Trib was dutfilly reporting that New Zealand's first World Cup finals coach Jhon Ochid was predicting an All Whites win.

Perhaps that's Adshead's old Omani name?

So all the talk has ceased, the waiting's almost over.  As Ryan Nelsen said this week, Bring it On!

Prediction:  All Whites 2 Bahrain 1.

- © Fairfax NZ News