For those of you living under a rugby ball shaped rock, I'll give you the good oil...
The All whites were playing Bahrain. At stake was no less than a place in the FIFA World cup to be held in South Africa. The All whites have failed to qualify for the world cup for over 20 years.
From a corner, Fallon (son of Kevin Fallon) headed in a goal, scoring the only goal of the match, the All whites winning 1-0 and going through to the World Cup
The crowd were on their feet so much that I missed out on photographing the winning goal and feet were being stamped, drinks drunk and animated conversations made prolonged attempts to focus rather difficult, so you'll have to settle for the kick that started it.
A sight to behold as thousands of wobbling bellies exposed themselves to the wintery harshness of the caketin. In a coordinated act, white tops were shed to acknowledge the last 10 minutes of the match.
In the hard light of day and temperature of their bodies no longer being regulated by alcohol, I bet there are a few sick people today!
There were several hand-made signs around the stadium, but this (from the opposite side of the stadium) tickled my funny bone.
One of the many little sideshows that were going on is when a Bahrain player pulled a "hollywood" and threw himself to the groung writhing in pain. The All white supports would chant,"She was pushed, she was pushed..."
Actually that reminds me of another point. The player in this photo was taken off the field on a stretcher, his team received a free kick for the "foul". Bahrain made a burst towards the Kiwi goal line. Seeing this the formerly "dying" stretcher-bound player sprang to his feet and raced down field to help out his team.
Even though I was getting the occasional nose bleed from sitting up so high (all Ginger Diamond's fault of course), it did allow for some pretty spectacular sights... case in point.
I hadn't been to the Caketin (Wespac Trust stadium) before, so this was an excellent oppotrtunity. Television replays the game but it can't begin shown the atmosphere in the stadium.
For example, there were Mexican waves and a giant NZ flag sent overhead, by hand to hand around the stadium. But probably most impressive was the sheer weight of support for the All whites. Before the match the Bahrain supporters were fairly loud and I thought, "Uh oh, I think we might just get shown up". But I needn't have worried. I was a little disappointed that the All white supporters "Boo-ed" the Bahrain team without cause, but that seems to be the nature of sport at the moment.
What a game, what an atmosphere... Fantastic!
From a corner, Fallon (son of Kevin Fallon) headed in a goal, scoring the only goal of the match, the All whites winning 1-0 and going through to the World Cup
A sight to behold as thousands of wobbling bellies exposed themselves to the wintery harshness of the caketin. In a coordinated act, white tops were shed to acknowledge the last 10 minutes of the match.
There were several hand-made signs around the stadium, but this (from the opposite side of the stadium) tickled my funny bone.
