New Zealand Will be the Worst of the Worst in South Africa

While not the lowest ranked team in the World Cup, New Zealand has the worst team making the trip to South Africa. Al expects a quick exit for the All Whites.

How they got here
New Zealand qualified for only the second World Cup in its history thanks in large part to Australia’s decision to move to the Asian Football Confederation. Having long been the second best team in Oceania the All Whites suddenly became the kingpins of the weakest international federation in soccer. The 2008 OFC Nations Cup was the first stage of New Zealand’s path to South Africa. The All Whites won five games out of six over tiny nations such as Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to top the group and move within one step of South Africa.

New Zealand waited almost a year before playing its decisive play-off against Bahrain, the fifth best team in Asia. After a 0-0 draw on the road, the All Whites beat Bahrain 1-0 in Wellington to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1982.

Who to watch
The All Whites have long established ties with College Soccer in America but only two players based in the USA have made the squad for South Africa. Instead most of the attention will be on how the players from the Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand’s only fully professional club, perform in South Africa. Mark Paston, Ben Sigmund, Tony Lochhead, Tim Brown, and Leo Bertos make up the Phoenix’s five-man contingent on the All Whites’ roster. How these players fare against top class opposition will have a significant impact on World Cup betting.

Ryan Nelsen is a veteran with Blackburn Rovers of the English Premier League and by far the most experienced player in the squad. Nelsen has caused some controversy by urging New Zealand to follow Australia’s example by playing in the Asian qualifiers.

Striker Rory Fallon will also draw some interest; the Plymouth Argyle front-man scored the crucial goal against Bahrain to send New Zealand to South Africa.

How they will perform
This isn’t going to be pretty. New Zealand’s squad is sorely lacking experience at club and international level. Outside of Nelsen and the currently unattached Simon Elliott this is a team lacking in experience of Europe’s major leagues. International experience is also lacking in the 23 man roster with 8 players having made less than 10 appearances for New Zealand.

All of that is bad enough and yet I haven’t even approached the total lack of talent in this team. There is no one player that inspires hope. Recent form isn’t on New Zealand’s side either. The All Whites drew with Iraq in the 2009 Confederations Cup but got stomped 5-0 by Spain and lost 2-0 to South Africa. The only saving grace is that this is the weakest group in the World Cup. It’s still not weak enough; New Zealand will lose all three games.

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