Soccer: Time to tackle the other Cup

The Oceania Nations Cup - and not the World Cup - will become the principal focus of New Zealand Football heading into the next four-year cycle.

It's not that Fifa's showpiece is now seen as out of the question or out of reach; more a realisation that winning the Oceania tournament is irretrievably linked to the possibility of success when the World Cup play-offs roll around in 2017.

There were many factors that made the task of qualifying this time much harder than in 2009: the retirement of Ryan Nelsen, injuries to Winston Reid and Tim Payne, the lack of quality build-up games, the failure to blood young players earlier in the cycle, the fitness concerns over Marco Rojas, Shane Smeltz and others, the yellow card fiasco and Mexico's improbable fall into having to play New Zealand to qualify.

Arguably no one factor was more damaging than the failure to win the Nations Cup tournament in Honiara last June. It was a shock at the time but the scale of the disaster was magnified as the months went by this year.

Compare what happened in the last cycle. New Zealand won the Nations Cup, earning their third appearance at the Confederations Cup (after 1999 and 2003). The All Whites had warm-up games against Tanzania, Botswana and Italy.

The chance to play the Azzurri - where the All Whites took a 2-0 lead before losing 4-3 - was unprecedented but came about only because they were at the tournament.

They then played Spain, South Africa and Iraq. The first two games were forgettable performances (0-5 and 0-2) but provided invaluable experience, especially against the reigning European champions. The 0-0 draw against Asian champions Iraq was New Zealand's first point at a senior Fifa competition, infusing the squad with a sense of self-belief.

There were also lessons for Ricki Herbert; the team were ripped apart at right back, which planted the idea of the new defensive system, Andy Boyens played himself out of contention and Ivan Vicelich re-established himself at international level.

In total, the All Whites played six games in 18 days, NZF banked more than US$1 million ($1.22 million) and the squad had a long spell together in camp.

In contrast, from March this year, the New Zealand side played only three international games (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Trinidad and Tobago) before the Mexico play-offs.

It gave limited time for combinations and cohesion to develop, painfully obvious in the past two weeks. It also gave Herbert limited opportunity to blood new players (whether he would have is a moot point), so he relied on several players past their prime.

Imagine if the All Whites had participated at the Confederations Cup in Brazil this year. They would have played Spain, Uruguay and Nigeria, plus warm-up games against quality opponents. Add in the time together on and off the field and suddenly the assignment at the Azteca doesn't seem as daunting.

NZF recognise it is a mistake that can't be made again. The Nations Cup will be given top priority in the calendar, with preparations in 2015 geared towards the 2016 tournament. Players will be expected to be available for all windows (Winston Reid and Ryan Nelsen were allowed to sit out Honiara after long club seasons). There was also an air of complacency that affected the whole build-up. The team performed well in lead-up matches against El Salvador (2-2) and Honduras (1-0) but playing in North America days before a tournament in the tropical Solomon Islands was a bizarre decision.

With the 2016 Nations Cup expected to be played in Fiji or Papua New Guinea, the team will have an extensive pre-tournament camp in a country that replicates those conditions.