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Playing dirty: Bahrain's Faouzi Mubarak Aaish feins an injury after a collision with Rory Fallon - Source: Photosport -
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"Hero" is always a dangerous term to use in a sporting sense. Not only because heroism is traditionally measured in situations far beyond the modest scope of sporting fields, but because it so easily loses its impact through overuse.
But given the shower of superlatives that has rained down on this All Whites team in the past 36 hours, few would disagree that it's wholly appropriate term to bestow upon them.
Ricki Herbert's men are heroes because they made a mockery of their lowly ranking to achieve something that's only been done once before in our sporting history; and they are going to a tournament attended that 203 countries would have so dearly loved to attend.
They're heroes because they played with the same passion, conviction and belief that their 1982 predecessors - sitting proudly in the stands - displayed all those years ago.
They're heroes because they knew their game plan and adhered to it. They knew one moment of set-piece magic would be enough to send them to South Africa, and when the opportunity came, Rory Fallon rose majestically to fulfil his duty.
And they're heroes because they accomplished all this in spite of the worst intentions of a visiting side more interested in playing dead than playing football.
To suggest the Bahrainis' dabbled in melodrama to influence the referee on Saturday night would be understating the matter in the extreme.
It's hard to think of a more cringe-worthy sight in sport than footballers continuously falling to ground as if they'd been shot, only to spring up instantly, either to place the ball for a free kick or to berate the referee for having the sense to see past their ruse.
That seemed to be Bahrain's pre-ordained game plan, particularly during the first half, and their cynical antics were rightly booed by the partisan 35,000-strong crowd.
It may have won them more free kicks, but it didn't win them any fans and nor did it win them the match.
Play-acting is a blight on the game and one of the primary reasons why football has been slow to catch on with some sectors of the New Zealand public.
Rugby may not be immune to it either - especially where late hits and chip-and-chase kicks are concerned - but it is a far greater issue in football, where one outrageous dive can affect the course of a game. Fortunately, Bahrain's penalty on Saturday night was legitimately earned.
But what made the All Whites' performance so much more impressive is that they refused to buy into Bahrain's nonsense.
All too frequently, footballers allow themselves to be enraged and distracted by the gamesmanship of their opposites.
Incredulous, they snap at officials and make rash, clumsy tackles that often give the referee cause to reach for his pocket. They give in to exactly the sort of provocation the Bahrainis were aiming to generate.
But instead, while they writhed, rolled and remonstrated with the referee, the All Whites simply kept their heads down and stuck to their task.
Leading the tireless defensive effort was midfielder Tim Brown; a man on a search and destroy mission to break up every threatening attack. His tackles were frequent and bone-jarring, but they were also well-measured and, by and large, legal.
It was the same physicality throughout the team that proved Bahrain's downfall. No one disputed that they were quicker and more skilful, but those advantages meant nothing when they didn't have the ball.
Apart from the first five minutes of each half, they were never allowed to play their flowing passing game. They were simply overwhelmed by the physical presence of their hosts, from the colossal Ryan Nelsen at the back to the twin towers of Killen and Fallon up front.
And perhaps that is the most pleasing aspect of the All Whites' win: they emphatically showed that you don't have to cheat to win football games.
They showed that losing your feet when it would be so much easier to keep them does not always pay off - in a roundabout way, the Bahrainis' constant free-kick hunting may have worked against them, since it allowed the All Whites' defenders to rest and re-group.
Hopefully, their rugged display will help to accelerate the breakdown of long-held prejudices of some New Zealanders against football.
It should translate to a generation of youngsters aspiring to be hardmen like Nelsen and Ben Sigmund, rather than show ponies like Cristiano Ronaldo and the contemptible Didier Drogba.
And it should send a clear message to the All Whites' World Cup opponents that they will not be fazed by impetuous antics or bully boy tactics.
Thanks for the game, Bahrain. And thanks for providing us with a
reminder that the good guys still sometimes win.
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