Soccer: All Whites likely to face same route to next WC

New Zealand can expect to face a similar qualifying route to the 2014 soccer World Cup as the one they negotiated to get to this year's tournament.

The All Whites had a relatively short schedule as they booked their place in South Africa, playing six round-robin matches against South Pacific opposition before meeting the fifth-ranked Asian team, Bahrain, in a home-and-away tie.

Oceania president Reynald Temarii today indicated that the qualifying process for the confederation would be the same for the next tournament in Brazil.

Temarii, who is also one of world governing body Fifa's vice-presidents, making him a highly influential figure in the game, said certain agreements were reached when Australia left Oceania to join the Asian confederation in 2006.

One of those was the Oceania representative would play an Asian nation, rather than a South American one, in the final stage of qualifying.

"There's no reason why we would change it," Temarii said.

Temarii, from Tahiti, was in Auckland for the World Cup trophy's half-day stop in New Zealand as part of a world tour ahead of the tournament in South Africa in June and July.

He said the All Whites' feat in making it through to the 32-team event had allayed fears that Oceania would not be able to achieve representation at a World Cup finals after Australia's departure.

"Most of the executive committee members at first thought we would not achieve it without Australia and four years later we've made it," he said.

"It will help to bring credibility to Oceania and New Zealand football and I hope it will give the new generation of players the belief that, in the coming years, they will make it too."

The only other time New Zealand have made the World Cup finals, in 1982 in Spain, they played 15 qualifying matches that took them to Fiji and Australia, and through Asia and the Middle East.

- NZPA