Road to Brazil
This is a World Cup qualifier. You remember the World Cup - the biggest sporting event on the planet.
The All Whites can get back there for a third time if they win tonight, then trump a North or Central American team in a home-and-away playoff later in the year.
World Cup qualification brings with it lots of money, unparalleled global exposure and incredible excitement. Just a bit to play for, then.
Football's coming home
The first game the New Zealand football team played was in Dunedin. True story. It was 109 years ago, against New South Wales.
But wait, there's more. The first full international the All Whites played was also here, against Australia in 1922.
Do not think of Dunedin as just a rugby city. Let's prove that football runs deep. And ensure the All Whites don't wait another 25 years before coming back.
Classy players
Ryan Nelsen, our second greatest footballer, has gone, and that is obviously a blow. But the All Whites are littered with quality players from some of the world's top leagues.
New captain Winston Reid plays for West Ham. Tommy Smith is at Ipswich. Jeremy Brockie is the A-League's in-form striker.
But I'd be most excited about big striker Chris Wood. He can't stop scoring in England, where he is now with Leicester but will soon be back in the Premier League.
U is for Unpredictable
June 9, 2012. New Caledonia 2, New Zealand 0. Anything can happen in football. The louder you cheer, the more goals you will see tonight. Possibly.
