Soccer: Aussie reaction to Oceania change 'arrogant'

9.00am

Australian soccer was arrogant in assuming Australia would waltz into the Oceania slot in the World Cup final, says New Zealand Soccer chief executive Bill MacGowan.

World governing body Fifa announced today Oceania would have a direct qualification place for the World Cup for the first time in 2006.

MacGowan said today the reaction from Australia that it was virtually guaranteed the Oceania slot in the World Cup finals was "typically Australian".

"Our biggest challenge is to not allow it to become an Australian charity and New Zealand needs to be planning for that."

News reports out of Australia said on current form Australia, the strongest team in the confederation, was almost guaranteed a place in the finals for the foreseeable future.

However, MacGowan said Australia was ranked 48th in the world -- only one place ahead of New Zealand -- and the Australian comments were "absolutely arrogant".

"But in saying it is arrogant, if you look at their top side when they put it on the park, they are a world class outfit."

The Oceania format was likely to change to a home-and-away format and the challenge to both countries was to bring all their top overseas players in the starting 11 back for the new format, he said.

"That is going to prove a challenge for Australia to bring their players back on a regular basis, as for us," MacGowan said.

MacGowan said the announcement was a great opportunity but New Zealand was determined not to let Australia take the World Cup slot virtually automatically every four years.

He rated the announcement as one of the biggest days for Oceania soccer for many years and said it was the culmination of a lot of work by former Oceania head, New Zealander Charlie Dempsey.

"It is a big day and it is a credit to Charlie Dempsey who has been battling for this for a long time.

"It is probably the biggest decision Fifa has made on behalf of Oceania.

"The impact of getting to the World Cup is just unbelievable. It is the biggest sporting event in the world. The money involved is significant. The exposure in terms of world-wide television is huge and it certainly puts players on the world wide stage."

MacGowan said no one had forgotten 1982 when New Zealand reached the finals in Spain as the Oceania representative. Australia last made the finals in 1974 in Germany.

MacGowan said Soccer New Zealand never had a problem enticing young players onto the field but had never returned to the days following the 1982 success of John Adshead's team.

"This decisions makes that one step closer. It's one more door that opens for us."

MacGowan said New Zealand beat Australia in the Confederation Cup earlier this year -- the tournament ranked immediately behind the World Cup.

"We have been there twice in the last four years. They haven't got there so... let's just see what the results are on the park," he said.

Former All Whites skipper Steve Sumner believed Fifa's decision was probably 16 years too late.

Direct entry into the World Cup finals should have been awarded in 1986, he told Radio Sport.

"New Zealand had proved they could actually foot it at that stage. So could Australia and just didn't get the chance," he said.

"When the numbers changed from 24 to 32, at that time I think our region should have had automatic entry."

- NZPA