While Omar and his boys from Bahrain were shooting down the Saudis in the Kingdom, New Zealand were in that other Kingdom kicking it with the Hashemites. It was an experience. New Zealand won the friendly 3-1. The Hashemites ain’t got game no mo’.
New Zealand fancy their chances now. Former captain, Steve Sumner, interviewed for the Christchurch Press, said Bahrain was their “best and easiet” route to the World Cup finals. Sumner also sees English Premier League experience as important for New Zealand, noting in the same interview, the presence of some hacker from New Zealand in Blackburn Rovers’ squad.
The All Whites would be ill advised to assume that because Bahrain is a small island nation with no Premier League performers the playoff is a sure thing to South Africa.
Bahrain has been hanging with Asia’s biggest cats for the best part of the last decade. Bahrain advanced to the final Asian qualifying group stages for the 2002 World Cup. Bahrain was a Semi Finalist in the 2004 Asian Cup, playing the most adventurous and attack-minded football of the tournament. Ask the Uzbeks. And Bahrain were a disallowed goal from qualification in 2006.
This is the experience that matters. Bahrain has it. New Zealand does not. Ask the Fijians.
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