Soccer: Aussie technology may help All Whites qualify

The Socceroos have already booked their place in next year's World Cup finals. Now Australian technology is poised to play a key role in helping the All Whites join them in South Africa.

While the Bahrainis have turned to the highly-analytical Swiss-inspired Dartfish computer software programme to aid their preparations for the World Cup qualifier in Manama on Sunday morning, Ricki Herbert and New Zealand Football are putting their faith in the Australian-developed Gamebreaker package.

Used by a number of sports here - and introduced to New Zealand Football by then national women's coach John Herdman three years ago and further developed by Football Ferns assistant coach Tony Readings - the programme has become the tool of choice for New Zealand's top coaches.

"It allows you to create any situation you want. It is very flexible," said former All Whites goalkeeper Simon Eaddy, who is goalkeeping coach with New Zealand women's teams and coach of the Auckland Grammar first XI.

"You are able to create a system of bookmarks which allows you to go back and look at, as an example, all the attacking corners won by the opposition. In double-quick time you can analyse those plays without the need to scroll back through the 90 minutes of game time.

"You can set up anything you want. You may want to watch a particular player so you bookmark a five, 10secs or even longer period from when he or she receives the ball. You can then watch and see what happens next."

Any digital footage can be used.

In preparing for Sunday's showdown, New Zealand obtained digital footage off a DVD of the recent play-off between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Eaddy then spent five or six hours preparing the programme, which was taken to Dubai by All Whites assistant coach Brian Turner earlier this week. Herbert, Turner and technical assistant Raul Blanco will spend time tonight analysing what Eaddy and Readings have produced.

At around $4000, the programme does not come cheap but if it helps New Zealand win through it will be seen as a most worthwhile investment.

Meanwhile, the odds on a Kiwi victory in Bahrain continue to lengthen.

The New Zealand TAB was yesterday offering $7 for an All Whites win but just $1.50 for Bahrain. The draw is paying $3.45. A 2-0 home win remains the most popular score at $6. A similar win for New Zealand would return $35.

The hype continues to build in Bahrain with a meeting held this week to co-ordinate plans to promote the match for the Bahrain supporters.

A local company will hand out red shirts, flags and horns to the fans and provide mobile phones for the cheerleaders to co-ordinate their efforts.

Coach Milan Macala wants the national stadium to erupt into a "theatre of noise" to keep his player's spirits high while facing the "Kiwi bruisers" on Sunday.

"We have played many games and have gained a lot of experience this year," said Macala. "We are aware that New Zealand are serious opponents. However, having carefully analysed their style of play we know we can use our strengths to move forward."

The Bahrainis are being put through their paces by British personal trainer Paul Bryant, who says he has been impressed by their physical prowess.