The All Whites had a victory of sorts yesterday but it was far removed from the Royal Bafokeng Stadium and it was one they played no part in.
Ricki Herbert's wish that New Zealand avoid a trip to Pyongyang to play North Korea in the first leg of the WorldCup playoffs in October was granted when all results on the last day of Asian qualifying went his way.
New Zealand now face a trip to the Middle East to play either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia. Bahrain are ranked 70 in the world and Saudi Arabia 56. New Zealand are at 82. Ironically, North Korea are at 106 but Herbert did not fancy a trip to that part of the world to play on an artificial pitch.
"This gives us some certainty of where we are headed," said Herbert. "We will now try to get to the Middle East in September, possibly basing ourselves in Dubai, and use it as a lead-in to our game over there in October when again we might stay in Dubai."
With North Korea holding out for a vital scoreless away draw with Saudi Arabia, they claimed second place in group B to join their southern neighbours as automatic qualifiers.
The point for the Saudis took them into third and booked a two-leg playoff in September with Bahrain, who sealed third in group A with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan.
Iran, who were odds-on at one stage to claim second when they led South Korea 1-0, were denied that late push for glory with a 82nd-minute equaliser which left them a point behind Saudi.
Australia ended their campaign on a winning note in front of 70,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, coming from 0-1 at halftime to beat Japan 2-1 with Tim Cahill scoring both goals after Brazilian-born defender Tulio had opened the scoring.
Both teams were already assured of their places in World Cup 2010.
