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The Sudden Death One Shot for Glory, Do-or-die, All or Nothing match against Bahrain is now less than a week away and the country, its startled media, and Wellington don’t quite know what to expect, or what to think. The closest people have come to describing the atmosphere is to compare it to the Lions Tour of 2005. There are some similarities; sold out stadium, peripheral events, and a large travelling entourage booking out an entire hotel. But there are differences; an even sporting contest, the absence of an army of fans, and the instant tie-breaker nature of the match. And it’s the fragile nature of the match that provides so much of the drama. Who said sport was fair? It’s not, and that’s its charm. Wellington is ready for this, although there is the feeling of childhood bewilderment in the air. It’s almost Christmas, that looks like a great present under the tree, but what’s actually in it? The ground’s full, extra seating is in, and the crowd will all be in white, even the Bahraini Royal Family, and Miles Davis will be singing. Most of these things will create an atmosphere never before seen in New Zealand
One thing massively in their favour is that Bahrain are used to this. They fell at this hurdle in 2005, they have been through 2 different groups to get this far, and then they qualified for this by disposing of Saudi Arabia in a home and away tie. Worryingly, they drew the first leg of that 0-0 at home. 18 non-friendlies in the last 18 months. The New Zealand road this far has been much more leisurely. That’s not particularly fair but then again, New Zealand did not need to beat Saudi Arabia to get this far. But the home side is clearly focussed on this. You could tell that by the way that the All Whites put in such a distracted display for the Phoenix yesterday. Such pressure and expectation will be new to all of them. Even Ryan Nelson will not have played a single match with so much riding on it, and he’s unlikely to have played in front of a crowd dressed the same and singing so badly either. Obviously, whichever side gets through will get some juicy odds once they get to South Africa. But that’s fair enough; FIFA want their World Cup to be a World Cup, and that’s why recent expansion of the tournament has focussed on the non-traditional continents (as well as guaranteeing the USA a spot). Qualifying for the World Cup is not fair And no-one has whined on about the unfairness of it all over the last month than the Irish. How unfair things are; a nasty Swiss conspiracy. They have to play home and away against France, New Zealand play Bahrain. This overlooks the fact that Ireland did not win a single match against decent opposition in their campaign to date and that France 2009 are not France 1998-2000 or even 2006. When NZ last qualified El Salvador lost a match 10-1. But that kind of score line has not occurred since, and a large reason for this is that these “lesser” sides get the opportunity to match it with the traditional teams more often. In France in 1998, the first to be held under the 32 team, 64 match format, there only 4 games with a more lopsided result than the final; and one of those was an all-European affair. The European sides still get their Euro competitions, where it is a bit easier to qualify. The World Cup is a more exotic event with contrasting styles. Anyway, it’s not as if Ireland are ever that attractive to watch. So forget fairness, love peace and harmony. This is drama over 90, possibly 120 minutes quite likely to be determined on a linesman call, a coat of paint on the woodwork, or the swirling wind inside the stadium. It might even go down to a penalty shootout. Then the Irish can talk about “fair”. Comments here
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