Soccer: All Whites make history with late goal

A great day for New Zealand sport and a moment to live on in history.

Winston Reid's name will live on for many years after his last-gasp goal kept alive the All Whites hopes of making the second round of the Fifa World Cup finals.

His goal gave the All Whites a 1-1 draw against a Slovakia side who were the clear favourites. It also gave the country its first World Cup point.

I have seen many great New Zealand sporting moments over the years but nothing to match this.

It all seemed dead and gone - until Reid's header with seconds remaining.

The crowd erupted with so much noise that they even drowned out the vuvuzelas.

Ricki Herbert's men have created history but now they must try to go on with the job at hand - face Italy and Paraguay.

On a bright day it was also made clear that the All Whites will need more than their one attacking option - the aerial route.

After the final whistle, Herbert said: "It's just phenomenal. We are going to enjoy the next 24 hours and then back on the pitch and working hard."

Asked about Winston Reid's goal, he said: "I think he got on the wrong side of the [Slovakia] guy for them to score so he's made amends for me."

They created early chances, but couldn't take them. They also need to be sharper in front of goal, to make up for their lack of world class creativity and dribbling ability.

As the game progressed, Slovakia's speed and ability on the ball took over, whereas in the early stages, and with midfielder Simon Elliott magnificent operating from deep, the All Whites had looked very likely.

There were no World Cup Goliaths in Rustenburg, more like a Big David versus a Little David.

And while Italy and Paraguay weren't exactly fearsome in their match, they remain favoured to qualify from Group F.

Italy are an ageing but battle-hardened side who would not dare return home having been lowered by a team such as New Zealand.

So the All Whites have broken their World Cup duck, after three losses in Spain 28 years ago.

The 42,000 capacity stadium, a three-hour drive from Johannesburg, was close enough to full.

It nearly witnessed one of the great goalkeeping blunders, when Mark Paston slipped on the edge of his penalty area.

Instead, the faithful walked away with heads held high, full of belief that we can compete at this level.