Soccer: World Cup must not be flash in pan - Herbert

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert. Photo / Getty Images

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert is calling for a concerted effort by all coaches and administrators to ensure the success of his team in winning through to the World Cup is not again a "once in 28 years" event.

It appears his pleas have been heeded.

At 7.30am yesterday the New Zealand Football (NZF) brains trust were huddled around the table.

A little over two days after the All Whites had beaten Bahrain to claim their place in South Africa, the planning was under way.

While the initial focus was on how to best prepare the team for the ultimate footballing journey, the game as a whole has just as quickly come under the microscope.

NZF chairman Frank van Hattum, chief executive Michael Glading, high performance manager Alex Chiet and director of football John Herdman met to start planning.

Herbert points to the closely integrated system operating in Australia under Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek as the blueprint for the future of the game here.

"Pim calls the shots in Australia," Herbert said.

"He is closely involved in their programme right through their national teams from under-17s up. We have to look at doing the same here.

"There needs to be systematic approach to development right through to the All Whites. It is not a numbers thing like which formation they should play but more a structural move to align players. We should be aiming to win through from at least every second World Cup campaign."

Van Hattum is more ambitious. "Why not every one?"

Eight of the players who played under Kevin Fallon at the 1999 Fifa Under-17 World Cup have gone on to become All Whites with Tony Lochhead, David Mulligan, Jeremy Christie, James Pritchett and Allan Pearce all involved in the current campaign.

It is now up to van Hattum and his board to spend wisely the estimated $10 million they will take from the World Cup.

"Our aim must be to produce the best professional players we can," van Hattum said. "We need to have more players like Wynton Rufer and Ryan Nelsen who are capable of performing at the highest level.

"We are not going to waste time or money. The success of the game in Wellington showed how much soccer can do for the nation. The win was a big thank-you to the public who got behind the team and became that vital 12th man.

"Now we have to look forward. The next under-20 campaign is the priority. We plan to have a coach in place shortly and will follow that by selecting the under-17 coach by early next year.

"At that point I can see real value in having a round-table discussion with the national body and the coaches.

"We need that integrated high-performance programme with common structures."

While there were those who knocked the approach of former chief executive Graham Seatter in sending the All Whites to play teams like Wales, Georgia, Hungary, Brazil, Chile and Venezuela, Herbert backed that decision. "Looking back now, it was the best thing he could have done."

Conversely, heads are set to roll in Bahrain with a "probe committee" to be set up to "investigate the causes of Bahrain's elimination at the final hurdle for a second consecutive World Cup".