KEY POINTS:
Forget any talk of "the end of the road" for Oceania teams at Fifa's Club World Cup.
As early as halftime in their tense battle with A-League champions Adelaide United yesterday at the National Stadium, Fifa officials were lauding Waitakere United's bold showing in which they had stunned the 20,000 fans by taking the 35th-minute lead.
By the end of the match, in which the brave United side succumbed 2-1 when Adelaide captain Travis Dodd headed home the 83rd-minute winner, those who matter were united in their praise for coach Chris Milicich and his team of amateurs who had played their part in giving the tournament such a stirring kick-start.
Fifa boss Sepp Blatter, who was not present, had been hinting he would make moves to tip Oceania out of future tournaments starting with next year's championship in the United Arab Emirates.
A quick check with his people at the match would end any speculation that the New Zealand Football Championship/O-League winners were out of their depth.
Granted, the match statistics were heavily in Adelaide's favour. They won 19 corners to three, had 19 shots (eight on goal) to six (one) and had a healthy 64 per cent of possession.
They also had the best of the refereeing calls, being pulled up for 14 fouls compared with the 20 Algerian referee Mohamed Benouza ruled against Waitakere players.
But guts and determination do not figure on the stat sheet. On that count, Waitakere won hands down.
Adhering to Milicich's meticulously prepared game plan, the plucky West Aucklanders defended like there was no tomorrow.
That Adelaide could score from only one of their host of corner kicks and needed a second (late) goal from another set play (freekick) to get through was testament to pluck and determination.
Happy to defend in their defensive third of the field, Waitakere were well-served.
From goalkeeper Richard Gillespie, who pulled off some crucial saves and had no chance with the Daniel Mullen and Dodd headers, both from balls played in by Paul Reid, through the reshuffled defence without captain Danny Hay to the tireless midfield trio of Jake Butler, Chris Bale and goal-grabbing hero Paul Seaman, they gave nothing away.
For Gillespie, defenders Jonathan Perry and Neil Sykes and Seaman, it was their third appearance at this level after a first trip with Auckland City in 2006 and subsequent outings with Waitakere.
With Hay out, Neil Emblen stepped up to take both the captain's armband and the leading role in defence.
He did both admirably and went very close to snatching what would have been a 2-1 lead with a ball which bounced off his shoulder rather than head.
Up front Roy Krishna again underlined his emerging talent. He was joined by nonstop efforts from Daniel Kopricvic and Allan Pearce.
"We were playing a game in which we wanted to catch Adelaide on the counterattack," said Milicich in defending his call to defend deep in his own territory. "We got a bit deep at times but we knew our best chance was to play the way we did rather than allow them to play end-to-end.
"If we had been a wee bit smarter we could have countered with three [goals] in the second half.
"We did not win the game but we did have a chance."
Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar praised Waitakere.
"It was a very difficult game. I have to give a lot of credit to Waitakere United who made life very difficult for us," said Vidmar, who a week ago watched his team carve the Wellington Phoenix apart 6-1. "They are a smart footballing team with a smart coach. They knew exactly how to play."
