Terry Maddaford: Cup inspires NZ for the next big party

Results from World Cup pool matches continue to make interesting reading for New Zealand Soccer bosses as they plot a long-awaited return to the international arena and the chance to again be caught up in the giddy merry-go-round of the world's greatest sporting spectacle.

In an amazing round of matches, world No 48 Ghana are through to the last 16 as are Australia (42) and Ecuador (39). Among the notables missing out are world No 2 the Czech Republic and the US (equal 5).

But New Zealand's chances of making the step up to join the next big party may depend more on a boardroom decision than anything All Whites coach Ricki Herbert and his players might achieve on the field.

On the evidence of matches so far, the All Whites would rate a chance to make the 32 teams in South Africa in 2010, but probably only if the Fifa executive plonks the Oceania champion in the Asian group for final qualification or, as has also been mooted, with the Concacaf (North/Central America) countries.

Expecting the All Whites to follow the Socceroos and beat the fifth-placed South American team (in their case Uruguay) is the stuff of dreams.

But, pitched in with Australia and the Asian nations, New Zealand would have a chance. In with Concacaf, the odds would be just as juicy. Of the four teams from that confederation, only Mexico survive. Gone - the US, Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Of the first 10 games played by Asian teams in Germany, they have won only once - the 2-1 win world No 29 South Korea had over Togo - the lowest-ranked nation (at 61).

Iran, ranked 23rd (and the second-ranked Asian team behind No 18 Japan), lost two and drew one of their three pool matches - scoring only two goals (one against 57th-ranked Angola) - before going home.

Japan, the flagship Asian team, stuttered to a 1-3 loss to Australia before a 0-0 draw with 23rd-ranked Croatia and a 4-1 loss to Brazil.

Not surprisingly, Herbert takes some solace from such results, going as far as to suggest that, with a favourable draw, his team could make it through to the last 16.

But, he insists, to even think like that, he and his players must be afforded the right opportunities.

While the Asian route shapes as the best chance - remember 1982 - the variety in playing against Chile and Brazil, and Hungary, Estonia and Georgia, would provide the challenge of countering different styles.

Herbert and New Zealand Soccer chief executive Graham Seatter will continue to search for games which will best prepare the team for their campaign, which kicks off next year.

Matches in Germany so far have shown older players - such as Ronaldo and Dwight Yorke - are struggling to keep pace with their younger rivals.

While countries like Brazil and Argentina have huge pools of players, Herbert does not have that luxury.

His is more of a balancing act in having to say thanks but no more thank you, and then looking for younger players to step in. He and his assistants can do that only if they are given the opportunity to expose these players internationally.

It has been a fascinating World Cup which has caught the imagination - as TAB betting figures testify - but for New Zealand to be part of the fervour in four years the game, here and at Fifa headquarters, faces big decisions.