Chris Rattue: Rooney, Kaka, Totti - meet Tim Brown

A sporting stealth bombshell exploded in Wellington on Saturday night ... we're on our way to South Africa, and the whole country is about to be moved.

What an atmosphere, the likes of which I have never heard out of a New Zealand stadium before. What a result.

Football has found its place in the sun again. Even our wobbly behemoth, rugby, will be shaded.

The huffing, puffing rugby union may claim four million fans will back its often shoddy game of kick-and- scrum collapse at the next World Cup, but the All Whites can already rely on this army without the need to mobilise the PR forces.

The crowd loves an underdog, and it sure has one here. Hearts are already won, even if the mind will increasingly urge caution.

A qualification route conducted largely under the public radar erupted at Wellington's Westpac Stadium as the All Whites beat Bahrain 1-0. We're in the World Cup finals. We're in the World Cup finals. We're in the World Cup finals.

Surreal but true.

Wayne Rooney, Michael Ballack, Kaka, Harry Kewell, Francesco Totti, Tim Brown - yes, that's our very own Tim Brown ...

An All Whites team of various abilities and one world-class player - Ryan Nelsen - will be stretched trying to foot it with many of the most famous footballers on the planet.

Rory Fallon, New Zealand's goalscoring hero from Plymouth Argyle, is at his sixth less-than-glamorous British club in nine seasons. Goalkeeper Mark Paston, the All Whites saviour, is playing for the Phoenix after spells with Bradford City, Walsall and St Johnstone.

Let's dare not equate the Kiwis to a pub team, but compared with the champagne talents of Rooney and co, the All Whites are definitely of a beer budget.

Forget the worrying match-ups for now because this qualification is worthy of outrageous celebration.

The 2010 sporting year has a whole new look to it. A generous Fifa qualification nod towards Oceania and an even more generous Bahrain side who would have had trouble hitting the side of a barn with an army of cannons have helped send our brave lads into the finals for the second time.

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert summed up the momentous occasion after the game. "I'll be out on the drink with him tonight," he exclaimed about Kevin Fallon, Rory's dad and Herbert's 1982 World Cup coach.

Herbert usually exhibits about as much lip movement as those old Thunderbird puppets, with wooden emotions to match. Yet he got so excited - with expletives attached - it sounded as if he might have already been out on the drink with big Kev.

There was also more than the normal quota of hugging in a very huggy sport. Marvellous stuff.

The commentary team wisely stayed away from assistant coach and NZ football legend Brian Turner, a man so emotional that club players who have come under his tender care will tell you he can break into tears at the sight of a well-run chook raffle.

What an amazing occasion in Wellington, where - as Nelsen said - a colourless co-ordinated crowd played more than a sideline role in driving our football side into the finals.

It was all white on the night and more than all right.

The helter-skelter match was far better than a 1-0 scoreline suggested, which in the wider scheme was vital. Great results are one thing, but a floating voter football audience also wants thrills and spills. It was an open spectacle, full of drama and opportunities, although both sides were hardly world-class and particularly shoddy in front of goal apart from Fallon's powerful header.

A few characters stood out above the rest. The name of Mark Paston should walk tall in New Zealand sporting history, because the big goalkeeper has been the hero of both the undeserved draw in Manama and the fully deserved win in Wellington.

He made a couple of stunning saves and a lot of fine ones over the two games. Paston not only blocked a woeful Sayed Adnan penalty but held on to the ball to keep the All Whites on course for South Africa. Right at the death, he was required to make another save, and did so with aplomb.

Fallon's headed goal from a Leo Bertos corner was a history-turner. Bertos, with skill on the ball well beyond his fellow countrymen, was the man who ignited this performance, largely freed of the defensive duties that limited his game in Manama. He will be one to watch in South Africa.

So where to from here? The major concern, and it is major, is that the All Whites will be hopelessly outclassed in the finals. Should they strike the game's superpowers on a good day, they will be torn apart. It is also absolutely vital that the Blackburn Rovers star Nelsen stays fit for the tournament.

Beyond the tournament and the high-profile build-up it will receive, questions will centre on how this qualification will impact on New Zealand football and the general sporting landscape.

A few bold suggestions were coming out of the commentary box on Saturday night about a new beginning for the game, as if one result had opened limitless frontiers.

I wouldn't be so optimistic and if the All Whites crash in South Africa, it won't help the cause. Extravagant claims have been made before about second-tier sports in New Zealand which have come to nought. Around the world, traditional sports hold their place despite expensive efforts to usurp them and New Zealand is only big enough for one major player.

There is no better lesson than in Melbourne, where the best team in the NRL plays in front of mediocre crowds because rugby league hardly makes a dent in the fanatical support for Aussie rules.

My feeling is that the World Cup will represent a huge leap for football next year, followed by an inevitable few steps backwards.

It will be left in a healthier position than it was, but only if clever advantage can be taken. The potential may have risen, especially in attracting even more kids to the game, yet the narrow avenues remain the same. There will never be a high-profile domestic league, and the Phoenix's appeal is shackled to the A-League's limitations in comparison with the enormously popular English Premier League.

Saturday night pointed the way forward, though. New Zealand football is best served by the patriotic fervour of enthralling World Cup campaigns, along with getting others to follow Nelsen into starring roles in the English premiership. The former is easier than the latter.

There is clearly a best option here, to hook New Zealand on to the Asia zone, where they could enter as Oceania champions hopefully and join a final stage of, say, eight to 12 matches against teams like Australia and Japan.

This would guarantee a potentially fabulous World Cup journey every few years. It is almost inevitable that Fifa will cut short New Zealand's ridiculously easy qualification route which emerged after Australia quit Oceania for Asia. New Zealand also needs more Bertos types, rather than the regimented iron men who fill the game.

A new emphasis on high skill will make it a better to game to watch and play. Football will attract more of the best athletes if they are encouraged to express themselves, rather than play to the dictates of junior coaches hellbent on results.

A new emphasis on intricate skill is also our best chance of getting a few more players into top leagues around the world. Yet it is unlikely that the New Zealand soccer psyche is capable of making this quantum leap.

For all of the excitement around Saturday night's victory, it was Bahrain who produced the more fluid football, and in the 30 years since the Spanish adventure of John Adshead's All Whites, New Zealand have not got any closer to matching the skills that are standard issue in other countries.

For now, though, it's all eyes on South Africa and a World Cup never to forget. And please, dear sporting Gods, keep Nelsen fit.

WEEKEND WINNER
The All Whites and the crowd in Wellington. A mighty 'Well done' to both.

WHAT TO WATCH
The All Blacks versus England - it can't be any worse as a rugby spectacle than the Italian disaster. Surely?