All Whites eye $10m prize

The All Whites are playing for a $10m World Cup payout that will secure the future of football in New Zealand.

New Zealand Football boss Michael Glading has revealed the enormity of what's at stake against Bahrain at Wellington's Cake Tin on Saturday night.

It's far more than the honour of being just the second New Zealand side to make the World Cup finals with a berth in the last 32 in South Africa next year.

Ricki Herbert's side are playing for a golden pot in Fifa's rainbow event where just making it to the republic is worth a fortune.

"The figures will only get finalised once the Fifa deals are done but it will generate in gross terms certainly between $8m and $10m," Glading told the Sunday News.

Glading was more guarded on what the squad would be paid out. There is no special bonus deal for winning the Bahrain match although victory in the Asia-Oceania qualifier would see Herbert's heroes handsomely rewarded.

"The players will get their share," promised Glading. "But that's a lot of money and it will be very good for our sport in terms of allowing us the financial stability that we have craved."

And he has vowed the money would be wisely spent.

"It's not going to be, 'great, we've got the money let's go out and spend it'. It's quite the opposite, frankly. It's like a household ... you read these stories of people who win Lotto and then five years later they are broke.

"But if you can create a few reserves and then carry on running your business soundly it's a smart way to be.

"The most important thing for the game if we do get in that position is that the money is used over a long period of time to allow us to put in place all the development plans and also action a lot of other things.

"The sport is right now on the verge of a lot of things. Win or lose we have some exciting plans for how we will deliver the game at grass roots level.

"I'm confident they will happen anyway but this money would certainly help speed things up."

These are lucrative times for the sport in New Zealand. The All Whites earned about $US1m for making the Confederations Cup earlier this year although most of that was eaten up by player wages and qualifying costs.

"In round figures it costs us $100,000 a week to have this team on the park and obviously we have had many, many weeks where our revenue has been near nill," Gladin said emphasising the lack of income New Zealand endures from playing the likes of Vanuatu, Fiji and Tahiti.

The qualifying costs for this World Cup campaign should be offset by the bumper 35,500 crowd next week with the sellout producing a record New Zealand attendance.

"In gross terms the gate is probably worth close to a million dollars. This certainly is a payday which helps cover a lot of the outlay from the last three years," Glading said.

It's winner-takes all on Saturday night and New Zealand could certainly do with the financial rewards more than the cash-rich Arabs who have never qualified for the World Cup finals but have spared no expense in this campaign.

Though the All Whites are at home after a brave scoreless draw in the first leg in Manama they face a Bahrain side favoured by the bookies and enjoying the away goal. They will also arrive on Thursday with the luxury of a warmup match, having thrashed Togo 5-1 overnight.

- © Fairfax NZ News