Soccer: Herbert walking in the footsteps of giants

Ricki Herbert is set to join an illustrious list of people who have played for and coached their country at a World Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The All Whites made history when they qualified for their first World Cup in 28 years. Coach Ricki Herbert will also make history when he touches down in South Africa, writes Michael Brown.

Ricki Herbert doesn't have much in common with Diego Maradona. The All Whites coach, as far as we know, hasn't shot at reporters, hasn't been banned from football for taking a cocktail of drugs, hasn't had his stomach stapled and hasn't even had his own TV show.

But the two unlikely individuals will share something in common next month when they take their respective countries to the World Cup. Herbert and Maradona become the latest in a line of decorated individuals who have played for and coached their country at the World Cup. Some of the most revered names in world football are on that 48-strong list: Franz Beckenbauer, Mario Zagalo, Oleg Blokhin, Alf Ramsey, Jurgen Klinsmann, Marco van Basten, Bobby Robson, Hristo Bonev and Berti Vogts.

"There are some big ones in there, aren't there?" Herbert muses when scanning the list. "It's amazing. When you start [playing] as a four-year-old kid, you have that dream of being a football player. All of a sudden, at 21, you're playing on the world stage [at the 1982 World Cup] and now you're going back as a manager and add your name to a list like this. It's unbelievable."

It's happening, though. In five weeks, the All Whites will play their first game at a World Cup in 28 years. Herbert played the last one, the 4-0 defeat to Brazil complete with frizzy perm, short shorts and porn-star moustache. Playing in Spain was the proudest moment of his life... until November 14, 2009, when New Zealand beat Bahrain 1-0 in Wellington.

"I cried five times that night," he admits. "I'm an emotional person. It meant so much to me. I get emotional just talking about it now. It was incredible.

"Going as a coach is totally different than going as a player. You're the guy with the weight of a nation on your shoulders. Back in '82, I was only 21, I was still someone who waited to hear his name read out and was part of a group.

"For me now, I'm the one making decisions, dealing with the players. I think because you are carrying the responsibility of everyone, it carries more weight."

You might think, then, that Herbert is well paid. Sections of the international media have certainly assumed that to be the case. Marca, Spain's best-read daily newspaper with more than 2.3 million readers, listed Herbert as the 12th-equal best-paid manager of the 32 national coaches taking teams to South Africa.

His estimated annual salary of $1.55 million pitted him equal with Maradona and Japan's Takeshi Okada and just behind Brazil's Dunga on $1.58 million. France's Raymond Domenech was well below him with estimated earnings of $933,000 but England's Fabio Capello was well ahead with estimated earnings of $12.8 million. Herbert breaks out into a hearty but ultimately painful laugh. The truth, he says, is much different. Although he wouldn't discuss figures, it's believed his salary as All Whites coach is closer to $50,000, on top of his earnings as Phoenix coach. The minimum wage for an A-League player is more than the amount Herbert banks as New Zealand coach.

It's not about money - qualifying for the World Cup is much more important than that - but deep down you get the sense Herbert feels aggrieved. Life as a football coach in this country is not always easy and certainly not lucrative and, for 20 years, he struggled to make ends meet.

When he returned to New Zealand in 1986 after playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers, he found himself selling cars in south Auckland. He didn't know much about cars but he knew he needed to earn some money.

He soon joined his father, Clive, training and sometimes driving race horses. He spent a decade around the stables before working for NZ Post as a courier and helping wife Raewyn with the hairdressing products business she established. He might have found more lucrative employment elsewhere but these jobs allowed him the time and freedom to coach, and occasionally play, football.

He started out with Papakura, and then moved on to Papatoetoe and Central. At Central United, he teamed up with current Auckland City boss Paul Posa and they won two Chatham Cups (1997 and 1998) and finished second in the National League. In 1999, Central won the national playoff after the league had been split into North Island and South Island divisions.

That success confirmed Herbert's desire to get into coaching full-time and later that year, he began as director of football for the newly-created Soccer 2 federation and 12 months later was the national high performance manager. He has been employed full-time in football ever since.

Brian Turner was Ricki Herbert's room-mate when Herbert made his All Whites debut in 1980 in the famous 4-0 win over Mexico. Herbert was a fresh-faced 19-year-old defender. Turner was a more grizzled 31-year-old striker nearing the end of a long international career. Despite the age difference, it wasn't the first time they had met. "I had quite a bit to do with Ricki when he was a boy," Turner says. "His father was chairman of Mt Wellington when I was there, so Ricki came to training a lot. He was about 12 but always wanted to train with the first team. He hung around and got the balls from behind the goals.

"Soon he was in the team. That was a natural progression for him. He was a highly competent football player, a very good athlete. But the thing that struck me when Ricki came on board was that he knew his place." It meant he was also impressionable and Turner wasn't averse to having some fun.

"When I roomed with Ricki in 1980 for that Mexico game, I educated him on what you eat and drink before a game of football. That consisted of Coca Cola and chocolate. Ricki would have done anything I asked him to do when he was 18 or 19. It's a little different now."

The irony isn't lost on Turner that the apprentice has now become the master. But Turner has no ambitions to be head coach, which means there is a mutual trust between the pair.

They agree on a lot of things but Turner says his role is to "challenge" Herbert.

"I totally understand who's the boss and have no problem if he doesn't follow my ideas."

In one instance, it was lucky Herbert didn't. Turner didn't think Shane Smeltz was worthy of a starting place against Wales in 2007 because Smeltz had hardly been shining playing lowly non-league football in England. Herbert over-ruled and Smeltz went on to score both goals in the 2-2 draw. He's since been judged not only the best player in New Zealand and Oceania but also the A-League's best player.

Turner and Herbert will sit down again tonight to finalise their 23-man World Cup squad. Turner promises there will be some healthy debate over the final two spots. He might even break out the Coke and chocolate.

Little is expected of the All Whites at the World Cup. They have been written off by most international pundits and the majority of New Zealanders are merely happy they have qualified for a World Cup.

In 1982, coach John Adshead had already said the players had won their World Cup final by beating China in Singapore to qualify for Spain so it was a no-lose situation.

In many respects, it's the same this time around. But it's certainly not the way Herbert is approaching it.

"I still think we have some unfinished business," he says. "If we don't achieve it, then so be it, but we are going there to do it. To win [a game] on the world stage would be incredible.

"We have to back ourselves. If everyone is available and 100 per cent fit and we play as well as we can, then we are a chance.

"Slovakia have never been to a World Cup before and there will be pressure on them to do well so they might be vulnerable. That might be a factor in our favour.

"Do we put all our eggs in one basket and give it a crack against Slovakia? We probably will. If we get a favourable result, it will be a dream. If we don't, we rebuild again.

"I'm not going there thinking we are going to get hammered, I'm going with the excitement of producing more success." If the All Whites did some-how achieve the unexpected, it will only enhance Herbert's already-high stocks.

There's barely a day that goes by that a member of the public doesn't pat him on the back and congratulate him for what the All Whites and Phoenix have achieved in the past six months.

It hasn't gone unnoticed offshore and Herbert has fielded offers to coach overseas. He's tempted, he admits, but doesn't want to make a hasty decision. Timing is everything in football. Herbert has another year with the Phoenix but his All Whites contract expires after the World Cup and it's unclear if he will continue.

There has been considerable debate about the fact he can't hold down two jobs - both Adshead and Kevin Fallon were club and national coaches for the 1982 World Cup campaign - but there is the very real possibility the All Whites will be largely inactive for two years post-World Cup. There would hardly be a conflict with the Phoenix if that was the case.

Herbert says it's up to New Zealand Football: "If the All Whites job becomes full-time, then I have a decision to make," he says, "but if the team plays one game a year then two jobs remains possible. I don't know what's going to happen."

The same could be said for the World Cup. It is only 32 days before the tournament starts and, if predictions turn out to be true, 45 days before New Zealand's involvement ends.

"I can't wait to get on the plane and go," Herbert enthuses. "Before we know it, we will be lining up against Slovakia for the first game. That was one thing I took from Spain [in 1982], it just went so quickly. Unbelievably quickly. I don't want to lose that this time. It's going to come and go but I really want to enjoy it."