Speaker 1: Yoda.
Speaker 2: I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
Speaker 2: daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald since nineteen thirty,
Speaker 2: across twenty two editions of the FIFA Men's World Cup,
Speaker 2: only two New Zealand teams have featured on the biggest
Speaker 2: football stage, in nineteen eighty two and twenty ten. Now
Speaker 2: there will be three four board and.
Speaker 1: Chol's teammatee Head North America. Save it again and again
Speaker 1: and savor every word. New Zealand are going to the
Speaker 1: Football World Cup.
Speaker 2: The All Whites have qualified for the twenty twenty six
Speaker 2: FIFA World Cup after a three nail win over New
Speaker 2: Caledonia in front of a home crowd at Eden Park.
Speaker 2: After a successful job co hosting the women's tournament in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three and a strong run from new team
Speaker 2: Auckland DEFC in the A League. What does the future
Speaker 2: of football look like in New Zealand Today? On the
Speaker 2: Front Page, News Talks That'd be host and keen football
Speaker 2: fan Jason Pine is with us to talk about football
Speaker 2: on and off the pitch. Piney, you got to commentate
Speaker 2: this game. You were there at Eden Park for this
Speaker 2: big moment. What was the atmosphere there like and what
Speaker 2: was that moment like for you?
Speaker 1: Atmosphere was great. It was for a Monday night in Auckland.
Speaker 1: I thought the crowd was terrific, twenty five thousand turning
Speaker 1: up there. Yes, it's a pretty special occasion when New
Speaker 1: Zealand can, at the end of the game qualify for
Speaker 1: a Football World Cup. That doesn't come along very often.
Speaker 1: I have to say the atmosphere of the game changed
Speaker 1: markedly during the first half and then I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people were turning up to watch a comfortable
Speaker 1: New Zealand victory. We got to halftime, it was still
Speaker 1: mill all. After an hour, Chris Wood, our main man,
Speaker 1: comes off injured, it's still nil all and the atmosphere
Speaker 1: in the ground just started to ever so slightly changed.
Speaker 1: But when the goal with the first goal went in,
Speaker 1: just the relief in the elation mixed together was palpable.
Speaker 1: Second goal goes in and then at the end when
Speaker 1: they've qualified, it was really cool. So yeah, a great
Speaker 1: occasion to be a part of.
Speaker 2: I've heard actually from people and mates who have been
Speaker 2: to the Auckland f C games in particular, but the
Speaker 2: atmosphere is quite different to a rugby match. Is that right?
Speaker 1: Absolutely? Yeah, it could not be could not be more
Speaker 1: different really, I think you know, a lot of us
Speaker 1: have been to rugby games. You know, we know we
Speaker 1: are a big rugby country. We pride ourselves on that.
Speaker 1: But often apart from a little bit of all blacks clap, clap, clap,
Speaker 1: that's pretty much all there is at a football game.
Speaker 1: There is NonStop chanting and singing and just they call
Speaker 1: it active support, and that's really what it is. You
Speaker 1: don't just sit there. You become part of the atmosphere.
Speaker 1: Auckland FC have definitely got it. The all Whites had
Speaker 1: it last night. They call themselves white noise when it
Speaker 1: comes to the all whites, So yeah, that just adds
Speaker 1: the atmosphere. And I think when people are there who
Speaker 1: aren't part of that active support, they feel fine about
Speaker 1: also becoming a little bit more involved rather than just
Speaker 1: sort of sitting there waiting for a try to happen
Speaker 1: so they can cheer.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's something that struck me as well.
Speaker 2: Obviously, being in an Aussie and a South Aussie at that
Speaker 2: I hadn't been too many rugby games, but I've been
Speaker 2: to a lot of what we call footy matches, so
Speaker 2: the AFL, and when I've gone to rugby matches here,
Speaker 2: I was like, why is everyone quiet? When my dad
Speaker 2: goes to a footy match, he comes home with no voice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's quite different here. Maybe we're a bit more reserved.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, we look, we get excited. It's
Speaker 1: about rugby games. I've been at rugby games as I'm
Speaker 1: sure you have, where you know there is high excitement.
Speaker 1: I think the thing with football is that in rugby
Speaker 1: tries are quite frequent. You know, you might have ten
Speaker 1: or twelve in a game. Often in football there's only
Speaker 1: one or two goals, and it's the explosion of joy
Speaker 1: that accompanies those goals. I just love the roar of
Speaker 1: the crowd. There's that little, almost split second of silence
Speaker 1: as everybody holds their breath as a SHOT's being taken
Speaker 1: or a ball is being played in, and then the
Speaker 1: ball hits the back of the net and then there's
Speaker 1: this spontaneous, simultaneous raw and I just love that sound.
Speaker 1: It's one of the things I love most about football
Speaker 1: is the reaction from the crowd when a goal is scored.
Speaker 1: So yes, perhaps it's a rarity of goals compared to rugby,
Speaker 1: where there are a lot of tries. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: think it's also cultural. We like to be a bit
Speaker 1: more understated here in New Zealand.
Speaker 4: I have to tell my dad then, well, if Chris.
Speaker 2: Ud congratulations have qualified for the World Cup.
Speaker 3: I know there's some personal pain, but I imagine that pales
Speaker 3: into significance to how.
Speaker 4: You're feeling rain.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, it's fantastic.
Speaker 2: This is what the country has been weighing for for
Speaker 2: the last twelve years. I've heartbreaken things like that since
Speaker 2: we've gone through Mexico.
Speaker 3: Crew and our costra Ethia.
Speaker 1: So it's come out on top this time around. It's fantastic.
Speaker 2: So what does this mean for the all Whites to
Speaker 2: qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
Speaker 1: Well, I think every young boy or girl who grows
Speaker 1: up playing sport wants to play at its pinnacle events
Speaker 1: and for football as that is the World Cup. So
Speaker 1: first things first, they will get the opportunity, this group
Speaker 1: of young men and slightly older men to go to
Speaker 1: the World Cup next year. They've earned automatic qualification. The
Speaker 1: World Cup is widely regarded as the pinnacle certainly of football,
Speaker 1: but also it's one of the big sporting events full
Speaker 1: stop in the world. It creates profile, it puts the
Speaker 1: game front and center of the consciousness of the not
Speaker 1: just the sporting public, but the general public here and
Speaker 1: as far as New Zealand football is concerned. It's a
Speaker 1: financial windfall also because teams that make the World Cup
Speaker 1: get quite a substantial payout from FIFA, which they can
Speaker 1: then reinvest into the game at all levels, not just
Speaker 1: into the elite sides. A lot of that money can
Speaker 1: go to administering and managing the game at grassroots and
Speaker 1: amateur levels, so and junior level of course as well.
Speaker 1: So by two or three metrics, it's quite significant what's.
Speaker 2: Happened in football in this country over the past fifteen
Speaker 2: years to get us back to this moment.
Speaker 1: I think the advent of a profession club and now
Speaker 1: clubs plural has certainly helped the Wellington Phoenix, you know,
Speaker 1: coming into existence in two thousand and seven, led I
Speaker 1: think anyway directly to Kwards qualification in twenty ten. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's been a little bit of time between drinks since then,
Speaker 1: but if you look at the current squad, I think
Speaker 1: this is as good a roster as we've ever had
Speaker 1: players playing in good leagues around the world. Chris Wood
Speaker 1: is playing in the Premier League, Libby CACACI in the
Speaker 1: top flight in Italy, others playing in the United States
Speaker 1: and other parts of Europe, up in Asia. Here in
Speaker 1: New Zealand as well with Auckland ft C or Wellington Phoenix.
Speaker 1: So the standard of our players has lifted immeasurably due
Speaker 1: to more and more of them playing professionally. You know,
Speaker 1: when they come together in the national side now they're
Speaker 1: also not just there to make up the numbers anymore.
Speaker 1: When they get to the World Cup next year, it
Speaker 1: won't just be ohh wow, We're at the World Cup.
Speaker 1: Isn't this great? It's like, no, we're here now. Our
Speaker 1: job is to win football matches. So we're going to
Speaker 1: try and win some games at the World Cup, not
Speaker 1: just be at the World Cup.
Speaker 4: Who are some of the star players that have contributed
Speaker 4: to this. I mean Chris Wood that you mentioned is
Speaker 4: obviously our big football star at the moment with his
Speaker 4: record breaking success with Nottingham Forest Day.
Speaker 1: Yep, he's the man and what a season he's having
Speaker 1: in the Premier League. He's New Zealand's main man all
Speaker 1: time leading goalscorer, closing in on all time leading appearance maker,
Speaker 1: and just the leader of the side in more ways
Speaker 1: than one. Yes, he wears the captain's armband, leads the
Speaker 1: site out all of that, but just the way he
Speaker 1: is around camp has to be so influential to some
Speaker 1: of the younger players. They look at him, the way
Speaker 1: he looks after himself, nutrition, exercise, recovery, and even the
Speaker 1: way he deals with the media and with the fans.
Speaker 1: And I think every other player says, well, okay, well,
Speaker 1: if Chris Wood can sign autographs for an hour, then
Speaker 1: I'm going to do that as well. He's the obvious one.
Speaker 1: I mentioned Libby Cacaci, but of the younger cohort Marco
Speaker 1: Staminich is a player I think who will go on
Speaker 1: to be a terrific player for us. And there's a
Speaker 1: young kid, youngest in the squad. Actually it's a name
Speaker 1: to remember. His name is Tyler Binden. He started in
Speaker 1: central defense last night and he, for me, is one
Speaker 1: of the best talents I've seen for quite some time.
Speaker 1: So there are a lot of them, and more to Carmen,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of those players in the lead
Speaker 1: up to last night, talked about how they'd been in
Speaker 1: the crowd watching the all whites qualifying in two thousand
Speaker 1: and nine. I'm sure that there are young boys and
Speaker 1: girls in that crowd at Eden Park last night who
Speaker 1: will be sparked towards perhaps being one of the next
Speaker 1: ones ten or fifteen years down the track.
Speaker 4: Now it's not just the national level.
Speaker 2: Hey, Auckland DEFC joined the current A League season last
Speaker 2: year and they have just been killing it. They've won
Speaker 2: twelve games out of twenty so far, the most of
Speaker 2: any team in the league.
Speaker 4: How have they pulled that off? Do you reckon?
Speaker 1: What a great question. Yeah, I've been trying to work
Speaker 1: that out all season myself. Actually, accommodation of things, good
Speaker 1: recruitment is one. They've recruited some very good players. You're
Speaker 1: about five overseas players in the A League, and all
Speaker 1: five of their overseas players have, you know, have been hits.
Speaker 1: Often you get the occasional miss, you know, you'll see
Speaker 1: some footage of a player and think, well, he looks
Speaker 1: like he's got a bit about him, and they turn
Speaker 1: up and then nothing like that at all. All five
Speaker 1: of auckland f season ports have been terrific they've recruited well.
Speaker 1: The rest of the team are mainly Key Weeks and
Speaker 1: I think that's helped in gaining a connection with the
Speaker 1: fan base. So on the field, I think they're just
Speaker 1: a very very good squad. But the way that they
Speaker 1: have engaged the Auckland football community and made an Auckland
Speaker 1: Left Sea game the place to be. We talked before
Speaker 1: about the atmosphere at a ground. So many anecdotal examples
Speaker 1: of people going to an Auckland Left Sea game for
Speaker 1: the first time, going to a football game and go, man,
Speaker 1: when's the next game? When can I come again? This
Speaker 1: is amazing and so different from rugby. You know, the
Speaker 1: Warriors have got their own atmosphere at a rugby league game.
Speaker 1: They've really got something special going there. But for Auckland
Speaker 1: Left Ce so early in their life to have already
Speaker 1: just mobilized this incredible act of support is awesome. And yeah,
Speaker 1: look they could make history. They could win the A
Speaker 1: League in their very first season. No one's ever done
Speaker 1: that apart from the first season of its existence, So yeah,
Speaker 1: they're on track for something pretty special.
Speaker 2: How does that compare to the Wellington Phoenix. I'm not
Speaker 2: here to pick a fight with you about your favorite
Speaker 2: team Piney, but historically they haven't been perhaps well, they've
Speaker 2: been a bit underwhelming compared to the Australian teams.
Speaker 1: I mean they've been there for eighteen years and never
Speaker 1: won it, you know, and so you think to yourself, well,
Speaker 1: what is it about this team that is that is
Speaker 1: stopping them from you know, from finding success. And there
Speaker 1: are a number of things which you know, we probably
Speaker 1: don't have time to go into. Look I I yes,
Speaker 1: I'm from Wellington, have watched the Phoenix since they came
Speaker 1: into being in two thousand and seven. But I think
Speaker 1: from a distance you can, you know, you can only
Speaker 1: admire what Auckland f C have done and I think
Speaker 1: what that'll do is make Wellington Phoenix lift their game.
Speaker 1: They shouldn't need a local rival to do that. They should,
Speaker 1: as you say, you know, be competing with the Australian
Speaker 1: sides every year and they have you know, been in
Speaker 1: the playoffs more often than not in the last five
Speaker 1: or six years, but they've just been unable to take
Speaker 1: that final step to a Grand Final and to winning
Speaker 1: the things. So what it also does having Auckland f
Speaker 1: C here is create a good environment for the players. Previously,
Speaker 1: you know, a New Zealand player if the Wellington you know,
Speaker 1: Welllington Phois was really their only destination if they wanted
Speaker 1: to play professional football here. Now they've got two and
Speaker 1: they can you know, push for perhaps better deal, better pay,
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. So yeah, what I hope is
Speaker 1: that Auckland FC will lift Wellington Phoenix as well. That
Speaker 1: hasn't happened this year, but I think as the rivalry
Speaker 1: goes on and intense effice, I hope anyway that Wellington
Speaker 1: Phoenix will respond.
Speaker 2: We saw football gain popularity, especially during the Women's World Cup.
Speaker 2: I remember going back home to Adelaide and the Matilda's
Speaker 2: were absolutely everywhere. Do you think we've kept up that momentum.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure. I think you're right about the Matilda's
Speaker 1: hottest ticket in Australia, you know, far more popular than
Speaker 1: the soccer us, sold out stadiums wherever they go, and
Speaker 1: what a case study in how to connect with a
Speaker 1: fan base. Matilda's amazing football Ferns haven't had quite the
Speaker 1: visibility here. In fact, they I think one of the
Speaker 1: secrets of the Matilda's is they played at home a lot.
Speaker 1: You know, they made an effort to bring those players back,
Speaker 1: who are you know, playing in Europe and up in
Speaker 1: the United States. But they said, no, we want to
Speaker 1: keep this momentum going. We're going to bring players back regularly,
Speaker 1: so they play at home half a dozen to ten
Speaker 1: times a year. In the time since the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three World Cup, it's hard to, you know, to get
Speaker 1: excited about any team, but the Football Ferns next game
Speaker 1: is in Costa Rica. It's you know, it's it's you
Speaker 1: can't meet the players, you can't get the selfies, you
Speaker 1: can't get the autographs, you can't you see your your
Speaker 1: heroes or your heroines. In this case, I think there
Speaker 1: needs to be a greater focus pot on on getting
Speaker 1: the Football Ferns back here because we've seen the last
Speaker 1: week the all whites being here, big crowd in Wellington,
Speaker 1: big crowd in Auckland's, lots of kids. Auckland FC. Look
Speaker 1: that that place is full of kids on match day,
Speaker 1: getting autographs, getting selfies, calling out to the players. They
Speaker 1: know them by name, they're connecting to these players so
Speaker 1: they see on TV and in person. I think if
Speaker 1: the Football Ferns want to capitalize on yes, they didn't
Speaker 1: have the tournament that Australia to do. But if they
Speaker 1: want to capitalize on on women's football, they need to
Speaker 1: have those players back here more often.
Speaker 2: Football is obviously one of the world's biggest sports, but
Speaker 2: a twenty twenty three national survey by A School, Sport
Speaker 2: and Z found that football is the fifth biggest sport
Speaker 2: with kids here, still a few thousand behind the likes
Speaker 2: of netball, basketball, volleyball and rugby. Is it gaming popularity
Speaker 2: do you think or do we need to do more
Speaker 2: to get the kids playing the game.
Speaker 1: I think it's still quite popular with say kids, I
Speaker 1: think under twelves, let's say, before we reached the teenage years.
Speaker 1: I think junior football is very big, you know. I
Speaker 1: think it's a it's often sent as a safe option
Speaker 1: for you know, you hear a lot about soccer mum's
Speaker 1: you know, they don't want they don't want their kids
Speaker 1: to be necessarily, you know, run over by much bigger
Speaker 1: kids in a game of rugby. And I know there
Speaker 1: are different levels of contact and that sort of thing.
Speaker 1: I think football does okay at the junior level. It's
Speaker 1: retaining those players at secondary school, I think, which is
Speaker 1: a big one. We know that we know first fifteens
Speaker 1: at secondary school are are a big thing. Our first
Speaker 1: eleven's the same. Not sure what are they some of
Speaker 1: the other sports you mentioned, you know, basketball is just
Speaker 1: really taking off. I know my son's school. You know,
Speaker 1: there are seven senior basketball teams and only two senior
Speaker 1: football teams. I know there are fewer players, so you've
Speaker 1: got to take that with a grain of salt. But
Speaker 1: basketball is being picked up by more and more kids. Football,
Speaker 1: on any sport, we're they're all in a battle for
Speaker 1: relevance and for at the elite level, for cutting through
Speaker 1: what is a very crowded marketplace. But at the junior
Speaker 1: level and through teenage years, kids have got a lot
Speaker 1: of options, and not just sport, you know, so you've
Speaker 1: got to make it attractive as attractive as you can.
Speaker 1: It's a work in progress. You just got to what
Speaker 1: you think you've done it, you haven't. You got to
Speaker 1: keep on doing it.
Speaker 3: It was amazing, you know, it's not every day you
Speaker 3: get to come back here and play in front of
Speaker 3: this on team. I think how many people was it?
Speaker 3: Five year? Twenty five thousand people turned out to watch
Speaker 3: us play, and that's pretty special. You know, at home,
Speaker 3: as well. Doesn't get bigger than.
Speaker 2: That as looked like for your tailand with all the
Speaker 2: expectation or what it's being expected to win tonight expected
Speaker 2: to win quite comfortably. That it's quite a tribute scenario.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I think that's football right. Every team's favored to
Speaker 3: winning at one stage and some teams are the underdogs.
Speaker 3: And today we went underdogs and we had to deal
Speaker 3: with that pressure. Another day we might be the underdogs.
Speaker 3: It's just dealing with that in the moment and then
Speaker 3: coming through.
Speaker 2: Do you think having more professional club teams like Auckland
Speaker 2: f C and the Phoenix is going to help encourage
Speaker 2: more teams? Could we be seeing I don't know, like
Speaker 2: a Dunedin Dynamo's or something, or I don't know Hamilton
Speaker 2: Panthers or I don't know, Well I'm not going to
Speaker 2: name them.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, well, thank goodness for that.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 1: There has been talk of a third A League team
Speaker 1: from New Zealand, potentially in christ Church. I think that
Speaker 1: would be it as far as the A League is concerned.
Speaker 1: They are league are keen to expand. There are thirteen
Speaker 1: teams at the moment. They're on record as saying they
Speaker 1: want to get to sixteen or eighteen, you know, to
Speaker 1: really flesh out their season, make it more attractive for broadcasters,
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. And if you look at untapped markets,
Speaker 1: there are a few in Australia. It's no team in Canberra,
Speaker 1: for example, not a men's team anyway, there's a women's team,
Speaker 1: no men's team in Canberra. That seems like an obvious
Speaker 1: place some of the bigger places. Adelaide's a good example,
Speaker 1: just the one team in Adelaide. There are two AFL
Speaker 1: teams in Adelaide, So why shouldn't there be two football
Speaker 1: teams in Adelaide. Christ Church I think would be a
Speaker 1: welcome addition to the A League. I think Auckland, what
Speaker 1: Auckland FC have done has proven that any doubt about
Speaker 1: another New Zealand team was completely unfounded. In fact that
Speaker 1: in many ways Auckland f C are the success story
Speaker 1: on and off the pitch of the A League at
Speaker 1: the moment. So I think, you know, if there was
Speaker 1: to be a christ Church team coming or a team
Speaker 1: based further south in Dunedin, you know christ Church appeals
Speaker 1: because new stadium coming a bit more central as far
Speaker 1: as the South Island is concerned, a bigger population, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I would love to see it, and who knows. It
Speaker 1: seemed fanciful a few years ago when they were trying
Speaker 1: to kick Wellington Phoenix out. They didn't want any New
Speaker 1: Zealand teams to now be talking about the possibility of three.
Speaker 2: I think so far we've come now, Piney, I don't
Speaker 2: want to rain on the All Whites parade, but New
Speaker 2: Caledonia was ranked one hundred and fifty second in the world,
Speaker 2: so it's perhaps not a huge surprise that the All
Speaker 2: Whites won. Have they just cruised through the Oceania round
Speaker 2: of the playoffs or do they actually stand a chance
Speaker 2: of making it through.
Speaker 1: First things first is New Zealan can only play what's
Speaker 1: in front of them. They don't decide the drawer. They
Speaker 1: don't say, okay, we're only going to play in Oceannia.
Speaker 1: That was that with an expanded World Cup of forty
Speaker 1: eight teams. That was the format that was set up.
Speaker 1: If you win Oceania, you go to the World Cup.
Speaker 1: So that's nothing to do with them. They just play
Speaker 1: what's in front of them. Absolutely, they will need to
Speaker 1: lift their level at the World Cup next year. I mean,
Speaker 1: for an hour last night, New Caledonia really tested them.
Speaker 1: So you know, once we get to some actual footballing
Speaker 1: superpowers who are up in the you know, the higher
Speaker 1: echelons of the FIFA rankings, then absolutely they'll have to
Speaker 1: lift their game. What they definitely need between now and
Speaker 1: the World Cup next year is good games against good opposition.
Speaker 1: New Zealan can only play games internetal windows, and there
Speaker 1: are five of them left before the World Cup next year,
Speaker 1: and you can play two games in each window, So
Speaker 1: that's ten opportunities for New Zealand to play quality opposition,
Speaker 1: spend time together as a team and get themselves ready
Speaker 1: for the World Cup next year. Those ten matches have
Speaker 1: to be well. First of all, they have to happen,
Speaker 1: and I know there's planning going on behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: There's already three games confirmed for this year in two
Speaker 1: of the windows. But they simply have to have time
Speaker 1: together against quality opposition because once they get to the
Speaker 1: World Cup, Yeah, that is what they'll be there for.
Speaker 1: They'll be there to not just make up the numbers,
Speaker 1: not just be our Oceanny is representative here, a bit
Speaker 1: of a token inclusion and an expanded World Cup, but
Speaker 1: a team that actually can trouble, more credential footballing nations
Speaker 1: and surprise a few people.
Speaker 4: Thanks for joining us plony.
Speaker 1: Great Chelse, thank you.
Speaker 2: That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
Speaker 2: can read more about today's stories and extensive news comdge
Speaker 2: at enzdherld dot co dot nz. The Front Page is
Speaker 2: produced by Ethan Sills and Richard Martin, who is also
Speaker 2: a sound engineer.
Speaker 4: I'm Chelsea Daniels.
Speaker 2: Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you
Speaker 2: get your podcasts, and tune in tomorrow for another look
Speaker 2: behind the headlines.