Soccer: Hero Fallon hits headlines in UK

Rory Fallon was a given a full page spread in the Daily Mail to speak of his All Whites heroics. Photo / Mark Mitchell

LONDON - It's not often a New Zealand or Plymouth Argyle footballer graces a full sports page of London tabloid the Daily Mail.

But, now, Rory Fallon isn't just any footballer. And he was given the full page spread to speak of his All Whites World Cup goal heroics in a player diary today under the heading: "How I made World Cup history!" Fallon was also prominent in The Sun's football liftout under the heading: "Haka'd Off" as he spoke of the victory lifting rugby's "dark cloud" over soccer in New Zealand.

In his diary, Fallon revealed he felt they had Bahrain's measure as the teams walked out onto a packed Westpac Stadium on Saturday.

"A deafening cheer went up as we went out, everybody was dressed in white, there were flags everywhere and I was just 'wow'. I couldn't believe this was New Zealand," Fallon wrote.

"We shook hands with the Bahrain team and tried to look into their eyes and that was when I felt we had them. It is like a boxer when he goes into the ring and his opponent won't look at him. They weren't looking into my eyes and I was sure we would win." Fallon, described in the paper as a born-again Christian, said he shared a room with fellow All Whites hero Mark Paston on match eve but was up at 6am for a walk on the Wellington waterfront and a quick prayer.

Hours later he was looking to the skies again when Paston prepared to face a penalty which threatened to cost them a spot in South Africa.

"I was praying again to send the goalkeeper the right way and Paston - my room mate - pulled out a great save to his right. It was unbelievable and I thought then we were through." After the euphoric fulltime scenes, Fallon also helped celebrate his wife Carly's 30th birthday and said he toasted with a beer and two glasses of champagne.

His father, 1982 co-coach Kevin Fallon, joined in the celebrations and told his son he'd scored a $10 million goal, the amount New Zealand Football is reported to receive for qualifying.

But it's back to reality in a return to England for Fallon this week.

"I will never forget all this, never forget that goal. As a striker you live on them. That was my most important goal.

"Now it's back to Plymouth - we play Leicester away next Saturday. It's a return to the day job, but with lots of memories to savour... and more adventures to come."

- NZPA