OUR VIEW: Challenge for soccer is to make most of cup run

IN THE early hours of yesterday morning, halfway around the world, New Zealand football came of age.
Long viewed as rugby union's smaller, weaker cousin, with one well-placed header from international rookie Winston Reid, football firmly planted itself in the hearts and minds of the country's sports fans.
There was only one topic of discussion at workplace water coolers around the country yesterday morning and it was the All Whites' shock 1-1 draw with Slovakia at the FIFA World Cup, New Zealand's first ever point at the premier showpiece of world football, in only their second-ever appearance.
The result has been described by Tauranga's John Adshead, who coached the All Whites at the team's only other trip to the World Cup finals in 1982, as a night "for the history books".
His fellow former All Whites coach, Allan Jones, who also now lives in Tauranga, said he was "nothing short of ecstatic" at the result.
Reid's goal and the efforts of skipper Ryan Nelsen and the rest of the All Whites has so far proven to be the highest point in football's surging popularity in this country.
The All Whites' achievements add to what has already been a stellar season for football in New Zealand, with the Wellington Phoenix falling one game short of the A-League finals, Auckland City's fifth placing at the FIFA Club World Cup and the New Zealand under-17 team and the Football Ferns both excelling at recent international tournaments.
A performance like the one the All Whites put on against Slovakia appeals to our sense of the "little Kiwi battler", punching above our weight and putting up a fight against the odds.
Of course, the naysayers will say it's "only" a draw, and that far sterner challenges are ahead, as Paraguay and defending world champions Italy lie in wait.
But to do so is to miss the point entirely.
While for the most part, sport at the top level should always be about winning, this All Whites team has already proven to be winners, by going where no New Zealand football team has gone before and securing points at a World Cup.
The challenge for the game's administrators in this country is to now ensure that the momentum gained through these efforts, and whatever else the All Whites achieve at the World Cup, is not lost.
The All Whites' 1982 World Cup appearance quickly became a part of New Zealand sporting folklore but arguably failed to translate into any long-term benefit for the sport.
Every effort needs to be made to ensure that the All Whites' on-field success is translated into off-field growth through sponsorships and player development programmes, to ensure that we don't have to wait another 28 years for the All Whites to grace football's biggest stage.