Newstalk ZB
The All Whites embark on their third World Cup tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico, qualifying for the World Cup on their 15th attempt. New Zealand first attempted to qualify for a World Cup for the 1970 tournament when they lost two group games to Israel, after North Korea withdrew from their group. Four years later again they were winless in AFC-OFC qualifying, finishing with three draws and three defeats as Australia topped the group to make their first World Cup. In 1978 qualifying, New Zealand recorded their first victory, twice beating group five opponent Taiwan 6-0 with both games played at Mt Smart Stadium just three days apart. But Australia topped the three-team group before failing to advance past the second round of qualifying to reach the World Cup. On a fourth qualifying attempt, the All Whites finally cracked it in one of the most intense qualifying campaigns where they played 14 games across Australia, Fiji, Taipei, Indonesia, China, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia before needing a playoff against China in Singapore to decide the second team from the region to advance to Spain. In front of 60,000 fans, Steve Wooddin and Wynton Rufer scored to put New Zealand up 2-0 before China closed the gap with 15 minutes to play. The All Whites held on to join Kuwait as regional qualifiers at the 1982 World Cup. Fifa World Cup 1982, Spain All Whites 2 Scotland 5, La Rosaleda Stadium, Malaga Trailing 3-0 at halftime - not the ideal start to a World Cup campaign. Playing at La Rosaleda Stadium in Malaga, New Zealand conceded the opening goal in the 18th minute when Liverpool great Kenny Dalglish took a simple touch in the box to split defenders into space and scored past Frank van Hattum. John Wark then pounced on a rebound off van Hattum on the half-hour mark before adding a third just three minutes later. Steven Sumner scored New Zealand’s first World Cup goal in the 54th minute as he got ahead of a back pass before Wooddin added a second 10 minutes later to make it 3-2 - a left foot thunderbolt following a long ball that must be New Zealand’s best World Cup goal. The All Whites had one opportunity to draw level but couldn’t take it and the Scots added two more. Hopes of a comeback were shut down when Scotland closed it out with a John Robertson free kick and a fifth from substitute Steve Archibald. Steve Sumner puts the ball past Scotland's goal keeper Alan Rough. All Whites 0 Soviet Union 3, La Rosaleda Stadium, Malaga New Zealand held their own in the first half at least. Kenny Cresswell went very close to opening the scoring early on - with a header cleared off the line. The Soviets had plenty of pace and it showed in their first goal in the 24th minute when a break into the box and finding an open man in the box - the initial shot was stopped by Yuri Gavrilov who then tapped in for the opener. Their second came shortly after halftime and again was a bit fortuitous with a wild swinging boot deflecting the ball into the path of Oleh Blokhin who slotted it by van Hattum. Sergei Baltacha added a third in the 68th minute to secure the Soviet Union victory after losing 2-1 to Brazil in their opener. A second defeat left the All Whites bottom of the table needing a victory over Brazil by at least two goals to give them a chance of making the knockout round. All Whites 0 Brazil 4, Estadio Benito Villamarín, Seville At the time, Brazil were three-time champions and were stacked with the effortless magnificence of Socrates, Zico, Falcao, Eder, Cerezo and Junior and it really was a question of by how many goals they would win the final group game. The All Whites at least held them off for the first 28 minutes before Zico volleyed a cross from inside the box by the outstretched hand of van Hattum to open the scoring. Slick passing on the counter-attack produced more space for Zico to add a second just three minutes later. And just like that New Zealand were 2-0 down. Ten minutes into the second half, Falcao broke free down the...
Go to News Site
Otago Daily Times 
NZ Herald Business 
Stuff 
