New Zealand
Coach: Ricki Herbert
Ricki Herbert is the current head coach of New Zealand. Ricki is a former New Zealand football player who represented his country at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. As well as leading the national team he is also the coach of the NZ A-League club side Wellington Phoenix.World Cup 2010 Qualifying:
The Kiwis sealed a berth at only their second World Cup finals with a 1-0 aggregate play-off victory over Bahrain, winning the second game in Wellington in front of a New Zealand record football crowd of 35,100 thanks to Rory Fallon's header just before half-time. On qualifiying New Zealand coach Rickie Herbert was quoted "We've all worked hard, we all backed the system that we truly believe was good enough to win it and they've gone and done it. Tonight is about these boys, about a group who believed and have never stopped believing, and their dream continues which is fantastic."Past World Cup Performance:
South Africa 2010 will see the second appearance of New Zealand national team at a World Cup. Their only other qualification came in 1982 where they lost 5-2 to Scotland, 3-0 to the former USSR and 4-0 to Brazil. New Zealand are currently 83rd in the World Standings, which is the lowest team ranking at the 2010 World Cup. They will face Italy, Paraguay and Slovakia in Group F and face a massive uphill task to make the next stage.New Zealand - Key Players
Ryan Nelson - Blackburn Rovers
Chris Killen - Middlesbrough
Chris Wood - West Brom
Rory Fallon - Plymouth Argyle
