Soccer: Road to World Cup stays close to home

Ricki Herbert's All Whites have been spared the tough travel schedule endured by the 1982 squad

In stark contrast to their last foray into soccer's big time, the All Whites have barely ventured outside their own backyard in reaching the final phase of their World Cup qualifying bid.

Unlike the 1981-82 campaign in which John Adshead and his team played 15 matches in less than nine months and had away trips to Fiji, Taipei, Jakarta, Sydney, Beijing, Kuwait, Riyadh and Singapore, Ricki Herbert's team have been to Fiji (twice), Port Vila and Noumea before this week's venture to Bahrain.

In qualifying for the Asia/Oceania play-off with the fifth-placed Asian nation, the All Whites played just six games over a 13-month period.

They won their first five before losing the meaningless six - the supposed home leg of their tie with Fiji which was sent back to Lautoka after the then Labour Government refused a visa for one of the Fijian players to enter New Zealand.

As a member of the 1982 side, Herbert played in all 15 matches in what was then the longest qualifying campaign in World Cup history. By the time they had beaten China 2-1 in Singapore to claim the last spot in Spain, the All Whites had won nine, drawn five and lost only once - the 2-1 affair at Mt Smart Stadium.

In keeping their World Cup dream alive, Bahrain have played even more games than Adshead's team.

Their 4-1 home win over Malaysia on October 22, 2007 was the start of an 18-match journey culminating in last month's 2-2 away draw with Saudi Arabia in the battle to find the fifth-best Asian team to play the Asia/Oceania decider.

Along the way, Bahrain have played in Malaysia, Oman, Thailand, Japan, Qatar, Uzbekistan and Australia. They won seven of their 18 matches, drew six and lost five.

They scored more than one goal in only four matches - the home win over Malaysia, the 3-2 away win over Thailand, in the 2-3 home loss to Japan and the 2-2 draw with Saudi.

In 18 matches they scored just 19 goals and conceded 16.