When Australia, Oceania's powerhouse for so long, left for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2006, New Zealand were widely expected to become the leading nation in the region.
The Oceania qualifying series for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ has done nothing to alter that assessment. New Zealand have gained three wins from their opening three matches in the four-team qualifying group, and look set for a showdown with the fifth-placed Asian team in late 2009.
The campaign has not been without its hiccups, however. Perhaps unsettled by the postponement of their opening home game against Fiji, New Zealand looked less than convincing in a 2-0 win away to the Fijians in Lautoka in October 2007.
In their next game, away to Vanuatu, the All Whites had a real scare. Jean Naprapol put the home side ahead in the first half, and although Wellington Phoenix striker Shane Smeltz levelled the scored early in the second half, it took the Kiwis until the third minute of second-half stoppage time to secure the three points which had seemed a formality. It was substitute David Mulligan's header which saved the favourites' blushes.
"We really struggled to get going in the first forty-five," admitted New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert afterwards. "We got a little bit lucky at the end." He added that the Oceania qualifying group was not going to be the walk-over that some New Zealand pundits had expected. "We certainly won't be taking anybody lightly. We intend to be very respectful."
Buoyed by his late winner in Port Vila, Mulligan went on to score twice more in the return fixture against Vanuatu, which New Zealand won comfortably, 4-1.
source: http://www.fifa.com