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Steve Sumner - Source: ONE Sport -
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2010 South Africa will be New Zealand's second World Cup appearance - and the first since the glory days of 1982. It's been a long time between drinks, but what has unfolded in the previous 27 years?
Tvnz.co.nz takes a look back on over two and a half decades of hurt.
Road to Mexico 1986
Coach:
Kevin Fallon
Key Players: Wynton Rufer, Colin Walker, Ricki
Herbert, Allan Boath.
The year after their epic world cup adventure in Spain the All Whites beat Australia home and away - for the first time ever - and the future looked bright.
By the time the 1985 qualifying campaign rolled around the bulk of the '82 squad were still present, Kevin Fallon was in the coaching hot seat and expectation was high in New Zealand.
A solid home draw against Australia opened the campaign followed by successive five goal thrashings of Chinese Taipei and a crucial 3-1 victory over Israel - Colin Walker's goal that day remains the best that this writer has seen by an All White and would be celebrated in Minities' ads for many years hence.
A hotly disputed John Kosmina goal saw the All Whites go down 2-0 in Sydney and any faint qualification hopes were extinguished by a final game loss in Tel Aviv.
1986 Oceania representative: Australia
In surely the longest home and away tie in sporting history the Socceroos had to face Scotland for a place in Mexico. The Scots, managed by a certain (Sir)Alex Ferguson, prevailed in two close fought ties (2-0, 0-0) but then were dismal at the big show, garnering just one point from three group games. Strangely enough, the legendary Manchester United manager would never again surface at international level.
Road to Italia 1990
Coach:
Kevin Fallon/John Adshead
Key Players: Michael McGarry, Danny Haligan,
Robert Ironside
Convincing wins over Chinese Taipei (4-0 and 4-1) put New Zealand into a playoff group with Australia and Israel. Consecutive losses on the road in Sydney (1-4) and Tel Aviv (0-1) all but killed any hope with two matches still to be played.
1982 hero Adshead then managed to inspired his charges to a shock 2-0 win over Australia at Mt Smart Stadium. This tvnz.co.nz writer was part of the modest crowd (3340) that day and remembers the julibation as first Malcolm Dunford and then Billy Wright scored to shock the expectant Socceroos. The next week the Auckland attendance tripled with the hope of another against the odds win. Israel were led by Liverpool hitman Ronnie Rosental and he proved the difference in a 2-2 draw.
This failure was tinged with the slight consolation that the Auckland setback had ultimately proved fatal for the Aussies.
1990 Oceania representative: Israel
Yes, that is not a misprint and yet another example of FIFA's pragmatic ways. This was before the days of Israel competing in the European qualifying group, and with the entire bloc of Middle Eastern nations refusing to be on the same pitch as them Oceania was the stop-gap measure. Israel faced South American fifth place getter Columbia and lost over two legs by a single goal.
Road to USA 1994
Coach:
Ian Marshall
Key Players: Fred De Jong, Ceri Evans, Clint
Gosling
Full FIFA membership had been bestowed on several Island nations which gave a different complexion to the qualifying puzzle. New coach Ian Marshall safely guided his side past Vanatu and Fiji and into a two-legged showdown with Australia.
Firebrand striker (and now Sky commentator) Fred De Jong saw red in a 1-0 home loss which made for a difficult away tie and as the All Whites went for broke the Socceroos capitalised, running out convincing 3-0 winners. Names such as Durakovic, Zelic, Milosevic, Polak, Zabica, Corica, Blagojevic and Taliadoros continued the great ethnic traditions of Australian football.
1994 Oceania representative: Australia
Australia would ultimately face 1978 and 1986 world champion Argentina, who had somehow finished fifth in the South American qualifying. A disasterous 5-0 defeat to Columbia at home had seen Diego Maradona come out of semi-retirement, and the superstar's presence in Australia saw the nation go football crazy. In the end one moment of Maradona magic was enough to give Argentina a 1-0 victory in Buenos Aires after a 1-1 stalemate in Sydney.
