David Leggat: All Whites at serious risk of game stagnation

We all have memories which stick in the mind.

Here's a couple:

Watching Brian Turner score a terrific goal for the All Whites against an England side loaded with internationals at the Basin Reserve in 1978.

Turner, from an acute angle deep on the left side of the England penalty box, chipped the ball over goalkeeper Joe Corrigan.

Corrigan was built like a smallish house. Chipping him was no mean feat.

It stands out in this mind for having happened on this journalist's first overseas assignment. Overseas, as in from Christchurch to Wellington.

Four years later, Scotland led the All Whites 3-0 at the World Cup in Spain.

That became Scotland 3 New Zealand 2. A routine rout of the minnows had suddenly turned decidedly unroutine.

A couple of minutes later the All Whites had their one chance to draw level, which would have guaranteed pandemonium.

A cross from the left reached the unmarked Ken Cresswell at the far post. But Cresswell was primarily a defender. A good one, but nevertheless a player more used to stopping than scoring goals. He headed the ball down and into the arms of the Scottish goalkeeper. It ended 5-2 to the Scots.

Still, halcyon days for New Zealand soccer.

And where are these roundball ramblings leading? This week it emerged a trip by New Zealand Soccer bosses to Britain to try and secure matches for the All Whites had come up empty.

Why is it that when our leading national teams - rugby, netball, hockey, swimming, badminton, golf, even club-dominated league and so on - are untroubled to get regular international opportunities, soccer can't?

The All Whites' only game this year will be the 1-0 loss to Australia in London in June.

Even worse, anyone know when the All Whites' last home game was?

Try July 2002, the 1-0 win over the Aussies at Ericsson Stadium to secure a trip to the Confederations Cup in France.

Certainly there are obstacles, such as the expense of getting teams to New Zealand, and rounding up the leading players at the same time in a sport where clubs call the shots.

But this is a desperate state of affairs. The only soccer the All Whites played last year was the Nations Cup in Adelaide.

The year 2003 was by comparison a bumper year; a one-off against the Scots in the United States before the Confederations Cup and a 3-0 loss in a friendly in Iran in October.

From the outside looking in, it seems that there's a reluctance to consider matches against club teams.

Up to a point you can understand that. There is an element of dignity and pride to consider.

If that's the stumbling block, there's much to be said for swallowing it and getting players on the park.

It may be the All Whites would be without a handful of their best players, but even getting a squad close to the best together for a handful of games against European lightweight nations - dammit, even the Faroe Islands, Andorra and San Marino would do for starters - or English first or second division clubs would be an improvement.

New Zealand are 111th in the world, and with Australia having thrown its lot in with Asia, the All Whites are stuck with the Oceania nations, all of whom are ranked below them.

They need to be playing better teams than that to get up the ladder and become a more attractive proposition. But for the moment, NZS might be tempted to take anything going.

Profile is everything in sport these days. The All Whites are at serious risk of not having one.