Herald on Sunday reporter Michael Brown is in South Africa following the All Whites’ Confederations Cup campaign.
Italy 4 All Whites 3
For 68 minutes, the All Whites believed the impossible.
They might have experienced through the Impossible Dream in qualifying for the 1982 World Cup but this was something completely different. The Brilliantly Unexpected Dream.
After 68 minutes, the All Whites led Italy 3-2.
That's Italy who are world champions. World champions. And the No 4 ranked team in the world.
That's Italy whose lineup includes players from AC and Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
The All Whites are a collection of no-name pros playing in all corners of the globe.
And this was no fluke. One goal might be a fluke but you must be doing something right when you can get three past arguably the world's best defensive side.
Sadly, substitute Vicenzo Iaquinta of Juventus scored two goals to wrestle control of the match and allow Italians to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Italy don't lose to New Zealand. Period.
For Ricki Herbert and his players, it will be a case of what might have been. They had a chance to grab the biggest scalp in New Zealand football history.
Instead it was defeat with honour and it will force a few people to sit up and take notice. The All Whites can now no longer slip quietly into the Confederations Cup as plucky underdogs who pose no threat.
It might sound fanciful but the All Whites could quite easily been leading 3-0 inside 21 minutes.
Killen headed over when unopposed from six yards from a Bertos corner before Smeltz struck three minutes later with a brilliant header from the penalty spot, this time from a Bertos free kick, to claim his 12th goal in 10 internationals.
Smeltz then fired agonisingly wide when the ball fell to his feet on the edge of the box.
Three-nil. That would have been the Best Dream Ever.
They deserved to be leading. Italy will always trouble you - that's the natural order of things - but it was the Kiwis who were forging out the best chances.
It seemed normal service resumed in the 33rd minute, though, when Alberto Gilardino nodded in a sweeping move that started in Italy's box. The ball broke right to Guisseppe Rossi who switched play brilliantly for Fabio Quagliarella to delicately cross to his strike partner.
Killen, though, silenced the crowd who braved the bitterly cold conditions in Pretoria on the stroke of halftime when he rose like a salmon and powerfully headed home a Bertos corner.
Few could believe their eyes, least of all Herbert who was hugging anything in sight.
Italy got back on level terms two minutes after the restart when Gilardino grabbed his second. Surely that was the end of the resistance and Italy was take control.
But Killen won and converted a penalty to take a 3-2 lead.
Italy 4 (Alberto Gilardino 2, Vincenzo Laquinta 2) New Zealand 3 (Shane Smeltz, Chris Killen 2). Halftime: 1-2.
