KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand men's under-20 team will follow their female counterparts on to the international stage at the Fifa World Championship later this year after winning the Oceania Championship.
Needing a win over New Caledonian in the tournament finale at Trusts Stadium yesterday to make certain of their
passage, the young All Whites did it the hard way.
After missing two penalties, forcing a heap of corners and playing against 10 men for the last 57 minutes, the home side eventually scraped home 1-0 with five seconds of the four minutes of stoppage time to play.
Chris James' winner ensured New Zealand's unbeaten record and booked the tickets to the June-July championships in Canada as Oceania's representatives for the first time at this level.
It would have been a lot harder on the nerves had Fiji got up to beat Tahiti in a game that was played at the same time on the adjacent pitch.
Against the odds, Tahiti, with a goal in each half from Leon Chin, beat Fiji 2-0 to hand New Zealand a clear path to the big time.
New Zealand coach Stu Jacobs, while conceding the victory was far from pretty, did not want that to cloud the achievement of winning through to the 24-team finals.
"I can understand some people might not have been too happy with what they saw, but what many don't realise is just how much the island nations have improved," Jacobs said.
"Only Samoa, of the seven teams here, were not competitive. That is far different from other years when two or three teams have been weak."
Jacobs said his players were unaware of what was happening in the other game as their focus had been entirely on the task at hand.
Inside three minutes, James had the chance to give New Zealand the lead but his penalty attempt, after Jeremy Brockie had been brought down by goalkeeper Manu Wejieme, was punched clear.
New Zealand forced 11 first half corners to none but rarely threatened to score.
The second half failed to deliver the same attacking opportunities but, just when it seemed destined to end scoreless, James delivered the killer blow, took his shirt off in celebration, was booked for ungentlemanly conduct before, seconds later, joining his teammates in celebrating a golden day for the sport in New Zealand.
Jacobs rated the success as his greatest achievement in a long coaching career. He said there was much work to be done before the tournament and he would be looking to the Oceania Federation to help ensure his team was as well prepared as possible.
"These boys never gave up. And, in the end, we can all now say we are going to the World Cup. All 20 players here deserve to go. Whether they do is another question," he said, throwing the gauntlet down to his players.
How well they respond will go a long way to determining New Zealand and Oceania's standing in the global game.
