Former Australian soccer coach Raul Blanco has joined the All Whites as a technical advisor. Photo / Getty Images
Former Australian national team coach Raul Blanco has been signed as a technical advisor to the national soccer team.
He will link up with the All Whites for next Thursday's (NZT) friendly international against Jordan and their World Cup qualifying campaign against the fifth-best Asian side.
Argentina-born Blanco coached
the Socceroos in two separate stints in the late 1990s and was the assistant coach to both Eddie Thompson and Terry Venables in successive World Cup playoffs in 1994 and 1998.
Blanco was also in charge the Australian side for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and had been involved with Australian under-17 and under-20 teams as assistant or head coach for seven age-group World Cups between 1981 and 1999.
The All Whites will play either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia on October 10 (away) and November 14 (in Wellington) for a place in next year's World Cup in South Africa.
All Whites coach Ricki Herbert said tapping into Blanco's experience was part of New Zealand Football's effort to maximise the All Whites' qualification chances.
"For me it's about a real openness of knowledge and saying that we're not holding anything back," Herbert said.
"The difference may be one per cent or it may be 10 per cent but it's important that we cover every base with a place at the World Cup on the line."
Herbert saw Blanco's involvement in two World Cup playoff campaigns as invaluable.
"He's felt the pressures and demands of World Cup playoffs, one of them through the Middle East like we face now, and seen the style and tactics employed.
"He'll be able to reflect on things he's experienced in the past and quickly pick up on things in our environment that we can improve on."
Blanco was excited about a new challenge, this time in the corner of an old foe.
"We are not rivals anymore. It's a different game now as we are not competing for the same prize.
"We had an incredible rivalry for so many years but Australia are at the World Cup already, and New Zealand have a wonderful challenge to reach South Africa as well."
Blanco will join the All Whites in camp in Amman on September 6 but his first official task will be to fly to Manama a day earlier to watch Bahrain play Saudi Arabia in the first leg of a playoff to decide who faces New Zealand in October and November.
The second leg is played on September 9, the same day the All Whites take on Jordan.
- NZPA
