Michael Brown: Goalless draw puts All Whites in box seat

New Zealand Football had touted it as one shot at glory.

It's exactly what the World Cup playoff is now after the All Whites' fantastic 0-0 result against Bahrain this morning (NZT).

The single most important objective of Ricki Herbert's side in the first leg of the tie in the unfamiliar and hostile environment of Manama was to keep the tie alive.

It is well and truly alive. The stakes are massive. A place at next year's World Cup all comes down to one game in Wellington on November 14. It will be the most important 90 minutes in New Zealand football history since that famous night in Singapore when the 1982 version beat China 2-1 for a place in Spain.

An away goal this morning would have been nice (away goals count double if the teams are level after the two legs) but it would be churlish to complain.

Most New Zealanders, and especially Herbert, would have taken 0-0 if they had been offered the scoreline before the match.

The All Whites acquitted themselves extremely well. They had some luck, most notably when Salman Isa rounded Mark Paston and hit the woodwork with the goal gaping. But they were also unlucky, like when substitute Chris Wood had a goal disallowed for a debatable offside in the 72nd minute.

The controversial 3-4-3 formation worked. The back three were excellent, especially the hard-working Ben Sigmund and skipper Ryan Nelsen, and the front three of Chris Killen, Rory Fallon and Shane Smeltz did their job of holding the ball up and troubling the Bahrain defence well.

There was a sense of nervousness around using Leo Bertos in the unfamiliar position at right wing-back but he coped well. He was beaten a couple of times but had good cover behind him and he offered more on attack than regular fullbacks Aaron Scott or David Mulligan would have.

It was Michael McGlinchey, though, who made the biggest impact. The Wellington-born former Scottish youth international looked lively when he came on for Tim Brown in the 67th minute. He played in Wood for the disallowed goal and also set up Killen for a difficult volley that went narrowly wide.

Herbert will likely stick with the same personnel, and shape, to start the second leg next month but McGlinchey must surely come into consideration to play a bigger hand.

He is a lot more creative and imaginative than the combative Brown and Wellington will be about winning the game rather than not losing.

Of course, it's not time to celebrate yet. Bahrain are by no means out of it. They proved they can get a result on the road with the dramatic 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia in Riyadh after the first leg was level 0-0 (they went through on the away goals rule).

But Riyahd and Wellington are a world away. It could be cold. It could be windy. It will most certainly be a foreign environment and one can only hoped the game will be played out in front of a full house at Westpac Stadium.

One shot at glory.