The agony and the ecstacy

A GOAL by Rory Fallon just before half-time and some heroic goalkeeping by Mark Paston secured New Zealand's ticket to next year's World Cup as they squeezed past Bahrain 1-0 on Saturday.

In a match billed as the biggest sporting event ever staged in New Zealand, the single goal broke the deadlock after the first leg of the Asia-Oceania final at Manama last month ended in a scoreless draw.

Bahrain's best chance to equalise, a penalty early in the second half, went begging as Paston blocked Sayed Adnan's shot.

Before a crowd of 35,100 at Westpac Stadium, a record for a football match in a country obsessed with rugby union, New Zealand reached the World Cup Finals for only the second time, after qualifying for Spain 28 years ago.

New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert, a member of the 1972 World Cup side, was ecstatic.

"We're back. We're there. South Africa, here we are," he said after giving Paston a congratulatory kiss, adding the team had done their preparation in the event of a penalty.

"We had done a little bit of homework and Pastie's pulled one out of the top drawer," he said. "He's done a big one for us. We thought we could get through without conceding a goal. We thought one would do it and we're there."

Paston, who said it would probably take a few days for New Zealand's success to fully sink in, described his penalty save as "a bit surreal, really".

"I basically guessed which way and it ended up in my hands and I got up and went on with the game really."

After dominating the goalless first encounter, where they missed two golden chances, Bahrain started the return match with the luxury of knowing a score draw would be enough to progress, and they attacked from the outset.

One particular snap shot from striker Jaycee John was forced away by a diving Paston, who was quickly on his feet to block the rebound. But after weathering the opening onslaught, the Ryan Nelsen-led New Zealanders fought their way into the game.

Leo Bertos and Celtic's Chris Killen both hit the woodwork before Fallon headed home a Bertos corner in the 44th minute.

In the 51st minute Abdulla Omar was brought down by Tony Lochhead in the penalty box and Uruguay referee Jorge Larrionda had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, only for Paston to deny Adnan's penalty.

Bahrain, with a population of around a million, also went agonisingly close to playing in the last World Cup - losing at the same stage to Trinidad and Tobago.

Radio Bahrain presenter Krazy Kevin, from Budaiya:

In my opinion there is little point in carrying out a probe about what happened. In the first 15 minutes Bahrain played well and could have been two goals up. Then they missed the penalty and their heads went down.

I think if that penalty had gone in we would have been there. Bahrain play a better-rounded game and all New Zealand played was 'route one' football.

But we need someone to put the ball in the back of the net - a good centre forward. We had the ball in the opposition's penalty area plenty of times but we just didn't put it in the net.

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Alaa El Gabani, an accountant, from A'aali, said:

I came back a day early from my holiday to watch the game. On November 14, I woke up early, put my red shirt on, made popcorn and sat down with my entire family to support Bahrain.

It was such a disappointment! This is the second time we have gone so close only to strike out.

Why did I even bother to come back a day early or wake up for that matter? When a team plays well and they lose you'll say better luck next time or luck wasn't on our side but, in my opinion, we played two matches and we were the better team in both so that just sucked! I hope Bahrain will reach this point again - one match away from qualifying for the World Cup Finals - but I fear that being realistic it will not happen again in our lifetime.

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Charlie Swami, a

customer service executive, from Tubli:

I didn't even watch the whole game after I saw the way the team was playing. That's how bad I thought it was. What a waste! They should have done so much better in Bahrain as well.

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Martin Whitaker, chief executive officer of the BIC, from Saar:

It was such a crying shame! To be honest I bet the team must be kicking themselves when they didn't put five past New Zealand here in Bahrain.

Wouldn't it have been great to have gone to the World Cup Finals? I just think it's a huge shame. It just goes to show that you have to take your chances when they come to you. The penalty should have been thumped hard.

I am genuinely disappointed as it would have been another opportunity for Bahrain to be seen on the world stage. We came so close before and it would have been great.

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Praveen Menon, a

cargo transportation specialist, from Mahooz:

It was so depressing! The team was under more pressure after the penalty and that is when they really messed up. They could have easily won this game but they got too desperate too fast. If they simply positioned themselves better and perhaps used another strategy things would have been different.