Ole....Ole......Ole.....Ole...
The sound still rings in my head
A Mexican crowd of around 50,000 is cheering our every pass. What a way to end a fantastic tournament. Playing the best team in the world in front of 50,000 screaming football fans. It's every players dream. It was my dream come true. And to be able to hold our heads high after winning the respect of every one watching was the icing on the cake. But wait, there was more to come - an impromptu haka which sent the fans wild, and a lap of honour. We felt like we had won the tournament, not just bowed out without a point. It didn't matter what the result was in that last game, we had won the hearts of the Mexican public with our effort and opennes. Headlines in the local papers stated: ÒKiwi's know how to enjoy themselves!Ó with accompanying photo's of Vaughn Coveny on a motor bike and Harry Ngata relieving himself behind a tree at the training ground. Some would call this unprofessional behaviour, but it's the sort of behaviour that made us the crowds sentimental favourite. Combined with our constant photo's and autographs for children, and our visit to the cancer hospital and orphans home, we were the most open team.
As for our three matches, I don't think we really got used to the level of football until the final game. The first 20 minutes against the US was well below what we would have liked and could be put down to the cauldron-like atmosphere in the Jalisco Stadium. But we recovered well enough to force a couple of chances and get the crowd cheering. Chris Zorocich's goal in the dying minutes was just reward and one to be replayed over and over on the video back home. The German game was like playing a methodical machine. I didn't rate their players at all, except for one - Lothar Matthaus. He may be old, but he is still a different class. The German's second goal was all down to his skill. I felt like I'd been tied in knots, twisting and turning, running back trying to stop him. He just waltzed through and slotted the ball home calm as you like. World Class. But again we fought back, and although we didn't create many chances, we pinned the Germans in their own half - not a bad achievement for the 102nd ranked team in the world. It was so good to play this tournament in a football mad country. We became instant superstars even though the young kids had never heard of us before. A lot of players actually commented that though it was nice to be so famous - they wouldn't want to live like superstars for the rest of their lives. One two hour shopping trip turned in to a one and a half hour autograph session and 30 mins of shopping! Constant security, including four police cars and three bikes to every training session meant we were restricted to our hotel for most of our time in Mexico. But the boys loved every minute of it, and wouldn't swap it for the world.
So what were my feelings after a tour that lasted nearly two months? Well I was glad to get home, thats for sure! But I just can't find the words to describe how lucky I feel at being a part of it. From the pride I felt at hearing our national anthem being played before the first match ( and the tears it put in my eyes) to the final lap of honour - well, I'm speechless. But you can count on the fact that I'll be talking about it for the rest of my life!!!
Roly