Fifa rule change boosts All Whites

TONY BROCHNER

COMING HOME: Winston Reid practises his ball skills in Denmark where he plays for FC Midtjylland in the Danish Super League. He has lived in Denmark since he was 10 years old but has decided to play for the All Whites.

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OPINION: Is there an element of indecent haste in fast-tracking New Zealand-born but Denmark-domiciled Winston Reid into the All Whites' World Cup squad?

The 21-year-old defender will become the fourth All White in the 23-man World Cup squad to have cashed in on a Fifa rule change allowing footballers to change their international allegiances.

If the All Blacks were snapping up a slew of Pacific Island players from the Customs queues at Auckland Airport, certain northern hemisphere rugby writers would be polishing their poison pens to protest at such a despicable diaspora.

Should football be subject to the same scrutiny?

Reid joins striker Rory Fallon, midfielder Michael McGlinchey and fellow defender Tommy Smith on the juggernaut to Johannesburg for the World Cup finals.

Fallon, McGlinchey and Reid are all New Zealand-born, while Smith spent most of his school years here before returning to chase a professional contract in England.

Fallon's case is, in my view, different to the rest. He grew up in Gisborne and Auckland and played all his early football here until he left to trial in England with Barnsley. He knocked around the English lower leagues for eight long seasons before getting his break in the second tier-championship.

He played for England age-group teams, like Tommy Smith, and should have switched his allegiance back to New Zealand before he turned 21 – the deadline under the old Fifa rule.

But Fifa removed the age restriction last year, allowing the football floodgates to open. Fallon swiftly signed up for the All Whites and his header from heaven in Wellington earned his nation a berth in the World Cup finals. The big man's now a Kiwi cult hero.

McGlinchey was born in Wellington but his family returned to Scotland when he was a bairn. He has a treacle-thick Glaswegian accent and played for Scotland at the under-20 World Cup. But he was snapped up by All Whites coach Ricki Herbert soon after he signed for Central Coast Mariners in the A-League and now plays for the land of his birth.

Reid is a completely different kettle of kai moana. Born in Auckland, he moved to Denmark with his Kiwi mum and Danish step-dad when he was 10. He's a product of the Danish development system and is playing in the Scandinavian nation's premier league.

Sporting cynics could be forgiven for thinking Reid had rediscovered his Kiwi roots simply because of the World Cup carrot. But he spoke convincingly this week of how, when push came to shove, he was proud of his New Zealand and Maori heritage, despite living half his life in Denmark.

But should Winston Reid walk straight back into the All Whites? Is it fair to domestic-based A-League players or New Zealand Football Championship stalwarts who've been dutifully knocking on Herbert's door?

It's an issue I've wrestled with this week.

The barometer, I believe, is whether Reid or McGlinchey or Smith are keeping a deserving player out.

Believe me, they're not. Herbert has holes in his defence on both fullback flanks that Reid and Smith, both primarily centrebacks, can fill better than the incumbents or aspirants.

Their acquisition will allow the All Whites the option of departing from the 3-4-3 (three defenders-four midfielders-three strikers) formation adopted effectively against Bahrain, but which would be a real risk against Italy, Paraguay and Slovakia, and reverting to a more tried and true 4-4-2.

The All Whites are seriously short of creativity in central midfield, where McGlinchey offers much-needed vision and skill.

There is no-one else good enough to vie with Simon Elliott and Tim Brown for starting places.

McGlinchey also offers an option on the right flank in a 4-4-2 team shape.

International credibility is important for the All Whites. All the good vibes created by the Bahrain World Cup win could be undone by spankings in South Africa. Herbert needs the best players he can get who are eligible and available.

He's done well to trawl the globe for new talent with Kiwi citizenship.

As a sidelight, the All Whites could conceivably field three Maori players in their starting lineup in South Africa. Reid has two Maori parents, while Fallon and midfielder Leo Bertos both have Maori mums.

Football in New Zealand is often pigeonholed as a white, middle-class sport.

Yet, we should never forget our greatest footballer, Oceania player of the century Wynton Rufer, also has Maori heritage.

- © Fairfax NZ News