Soccer: Herbert to visit England on fact-finding mission

One of the world's least known national football coaches will get an audience with one of the most famous, but the difference between the two is not all that great considering they both seek World Cup glory.

Of course, World Cup glory for England's Sven-Goran Eriksson means winning football's Holy Grail. For New Zealand's new head coach Ricki Herbert it means replicating what he did as a player in 1982 by helping his side to qualify for the World Cup finals.

Herbert will be given a rare insight into how England prepares on and off the field for their World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan in Newcastle on Thursday morning.

Not only will he get to watch England train but he will also stay at the same complex as the England side and get a chance afterwards to pick Eriksson's brain.

While Herbert is unlikely to be overawed by being in the presence of some of the world's most expensive players, he's conscious of not wanting to appear out of his depth.

"I don't want to ask something that's not at the level that it should be," Herbert admitted yesterday from Sydney where he watched Australia host Iraq in a friendly before heading off to the UK.

"I don't want it to be totally structured and formal so that it comes across as an interview. It's a fantastic opportunity just to be there and just observe what they're doing."

New Zealand Soccer (NZS) were pleasantly surprised when they asked the Football Association whether Herbert might be able to attend an England training session.

He's hopeful of not only chatting to Eriksson but also David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney about how they approach games and deal with being in the public eye.

"Lampard has done so well for Chelsea and it would also be good to get his thoughts on Jose Mourinho and the influence he has brought into the Chelsea side," Herbert explained.

The All Whites line up against Australia in London on June 9 in what will be Herbert's first game in charge.

The former All Whites captain, who is also NZS technical director, has mixed views about Australia's almost inevitable move out of Oceania to join Asia.

NZS chief executive Graham Seatter has expressed his desire to see New Zealand follow Australia but, considering Oceania is expected to retain direct entry for every Fifa competition except at World Cup level, the task for New Zealand teams to qualify is easier without Australia.

"We have to be selfish and look at our own destiny," Herbert said.

"We could say it's nice to go to Asia but, at the moment, we're not going anywhere and we have to get it right and we have to have these teams qualifying.

"You're arguably looking at five teams attending the biggest competitons in the world for age groups. That's fantastic in anyone's terms.

"The long-term benefits, I would have thought, would be to look to get into the best environment that we can and that may well be Asia."

* The New Zealand Knights will announce this week the signings of two players with two more on the way to bring the number within the squad to 10.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY