A football war to rival the 1969 Honduras-El Salvador conflict is potentially on the cards due to some poor sub-editing at the SMH.
Yes, it was a bit cheeky to try and claim the All Whites' hard-earned and well-deserved point for "Australasia" (which incidentally is not a FIFA confederation anyway), but the backlash from over the ditch is extraordinary.
But we are not envious. We do not fear that they will outshine us. Quite the opposite. It has proven something that we have been arguing for a long-time - that football in this corner of the globe is remarkably strong, despite the complete lack of respect that FIFA has shown it over the years - the same lack of recognition that drove Australia seek inclusion in the Asian confederation.
So, in fact, Australia has treated the result in much the same way an older brother would if a younger sibling told the head-master to f**k off!
Amused, and somewhat proud.
And there is another reason we should celebrate!
The result potentially becomes New Zealand's greatest sporting acheivement, and if it does, then perhaps we will no longer have to hear how many Bledisloe Cups they have won. Perhaps now they wil move on from the 1985/86 Trans-Tasman test series when Hadlee smashed our weakened team. Perhaps they will even let go of their triumph in the 2003 Netball World Championships.
Perhaps.
No comments:
Post a Comment