Football's best chance to boost ratings

BY FRED WOODCOCK

OPINION: Who is Chris Wood? Michael McGlinchey, anyone? What about Rory Fallon?

Closer to home, would members of the general public outside of Wellington instantly recognise the names and faces of Phoenix All Whites such as Tony Lochhead, Mark Paston, Tim Brown or Leo Bertos?

Of course, these are all well known people to followers of New Zealand football.

But to your average Kiwi who may have a casual interest in sport, or only follows rugby, they may as well be cartoon characters.

English premiership star Ryan Nelsen – undoubtedly one of New Zealand's sportsmen of the decade – would probably be the only player who wouldn't lose out to your average journeyman All Black in a nationwide "who is this?" poll.

The point is these All Whites have the ability to change our sporting landscape – they can become household names, or remain largely obscure, in the space of 90 minutes. That's some pressure.

But it's also about the bigger picture. Football is hugely popular among children, and we already have highly talented youth players. You need only look at the performances of our under-17 men and women during the past year for evidence.

So qualification for the World Cup, and the huge pot of money that automatically brings (up to US$10 million), could see the game surge. Yes, the players would get their share, but New Zealand Football has already implemented a plan to put significant amounts of money into programmes for youth teams.

NZF chairman Frank van Hattum and skipper Nelsen were right when telling me that, win or lose, Saturday will be a great night for football. It will be.

Lose, however, and the reality is that's all it might be.

The game won't fall away, sure, as there have been significant steps across all levels in recent years. But it wouldn't progress at the rapid rate it could do.

The other thing we should be mindful of is that New Zealand has never and probably will never have a better chance to qualify.

Six matches against island nations and a two-leg playoff against Bahrain is, by world standards, an easy path, and certainly compared to the 15 gruelling matches the 82 side faced.

If they qualify, we should take absolutely nothing away from the achievement. Bahrain are the fifth-best team in Asia and nobody's mug. The lack of romance of this campaign when compared to 1982 should not stop us enjoying the opportunity.

But the truth is this path has already raised eyebrows in places such as Europe and South America, and when Fifa sits down to discuss the next World Cup, as it always does, Oceania's route is bound to be a talking point.

Personally, I've always thought that if the Oceania champions could join Asian qualifying in the second stage, it would be perfect. Sure, you would sacrifice one-off opportunities every four years, such as this one, to make the World Cup.

But wouldn't it be preferable for the continual growth of football in New Zealand to have regular matches, home and away, against teams such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia etc?

This team has proven it is good enough to compete with some of the top teams in Asia and this way the public could really embrace a qualifying campaign.Of course, this is all for future contemplation. Right now, the All Whites have a chance to make history, a chance to become household names, and a chance to propel the game forward.

It all comes down to 90 minutes on Saturday – their one shot for glory.

They must take it.

- © Fairfax NZ News