Soccer: Thanks to Fifa dream lives on

Rory Fallon celebrates his goal. Photo / Getty Images

Rory Fallon thought he had blown his chance. He didn't think he would ever play for New Zealand once he played youth internationals for England.

But a Fifa rule change which loosened the eligibility rules gave him another opportunity. He wasn't going to turn it down.

Last night he was the hero, scoring the goal that sent New Zealand through to the World Cup. He will not score a more important goal in his life.

And he now gets the chance to follow his dad to a World Cup. His dad, of course, Kevin Fallon, assistant coach of the 1982 All Whites.

"I heard Dad was crying at the start, which shows how much it meant to him," Rory said. "All those trainings with him, getting up at 6am, have paid off. I still have more to achieve and I have so much to thank him for."

He and New Zealand football fans also have Fifa to thank for changing the rules. Previously players who had played youth internationals had to elect their country of choice by the time they turned 21. Fallon is now 27.

"I thought that dream had gone," he admitted. "When I was a young kid, I made a bad mistake [and played for England at youth level]. I thought I would live to regret it but I got another chance."

His header will be played over and over, like the goals Wynton Rufer, Steve Wooddin and Grant Turner scored in the 1982 campaign. That 1982 side was in attendance, completing a lap of honour before the match. They have now passed on the mantle.

"I saw the '82 team in the warmup and I said to myself, 'we need to get to this World Cup because these people are remembered for this long'."

Goalkeeper Mark Paston will also be remembered for his penalty save early in the second half. It was one of the most significant moments and the Bahrain players, who went from praising Allah one minute to being downcast, seemed to lose some of the appetite for the fight.

"I just guessed," Paston admitted. It was good he did.

No one was celebrating more than Ricki Herbert at the final whistle. The All Whites coach was also part of that 1982 campaign, as was current assistant Brian Turner, and they will now have the rare distinction of going to a World Cup as players and coaches.

"Wow," Herbert said, taking a moment to compose himself. "It was incredible, absolutely incredible. I'm just so proud of this group of players. People say your team is a representative of yourself and I couldn't be happier. These boys are going to a World Cup. It's a dream. It's something they will never forget. When they all finish, they will be remembered as the side to achieve it again [after the 1982 team]."

Herbert did, though, have a message to his bosses not to blow this chance in the same way the New Zealand Football Association, as it was known then, did after Spain '82.

"They better spend the bloody money right," he said, "because we are not going down that pathway again, surely. We have taken 27 years to resurrect the game and it's incredibly important to the players, the public and the kids we get it right this time."

The most important thing is they have the chance. Football is all about taking chances.

Just ask Rory Fallon.