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THEY think it's all over! Bahrain's feisty footballers will have to wipe the smile off the faces of the cocky Kiwis who reckon the World Cup prize is in the bag after scraping a lucky goalless draw at the National Stadium.
The woodwork, a few finger-tip saves and incredible misses made it a miserable Saturday night for Bahrain's barmy army of fans who hoped the team would take a few goals advantage with them to the deciding second leg in Wellington on November 14.
Instead, Bahrain will have to take the same battling spirit that upset the odds in Riyadh and earned them a crucial score draw - alongside a supply of thermal underwear - to book a ticket to the World Cup Finals in South Africa next year.
National soccer coach Milan Macala looked forlorn on the bench as one chance after another went begging but after the match he was in a more menacing mood, saying: "We must fight in our last chance to qualify for the World Cup.
"Our qualification is not over and I have confidence that we can still get something in New Zealand and hopefully come out top, just like we did against Saudi Arabia.
"New Zealand are a different team, we now have to play them in a different time zone, play in a different climate in front of their fans. But we will try - we will try until the end."
Back in New Zealand the Kiwis this week were as cocky as ever. Despite the fact that Bahrain, which has never played at a World Cup finals, dominated the game from the start but failed to capitalise on countless chances, the New Zealand Herald website's headline screamed 'Goalless draw puts All Whites in box (driving) seat' and described the result as 'fantastic'.
The newspaper's report added: "An away goal would have been nice (away goals count double if the teams are level after the two legs) but it would be churlish to complain."
That the All Whites were able to come away with a clean sheet was a big source of encouragement for their captain Ryan Nelsen.
"That's why I'm really excited about the Wellington match," the central defender said.
"That was the best they threw at us. I know we've got a lot more to come."
It's now up to the likes of Salman Isa, Hussain Ali, Mohammed Hubail, Jaycee John & Co to make him eat his words.
And packing the thermals wasn't a joke ... A freak snow storm and bad weather, which is highly irregular at this time of year, left hundreds of people stranded and unable to return to their homes in New Zealand in recent days.
Riffa and Wellington are a world away. It could be cold. It could be windy. It will most certainly be a foreign environment.
But BOTH sides will have 'one shot a glory' - the marketing phase the football authorities are using to try to entice supporters to the Westpac Stadium.
So far only 17,000 fans have snapped up tickets in a rugby mad country where football falls well down the sporting pecking order.
Fooball pundits predict that if Bahrain can force an early goal the fickle crowd will be silenced and the notorious Wellington wind will blow if the super Reds' favour.
