World Cup Qualifier: New Zealand v Bahrain Quiz

Answer: Manama

Manama in Bahrain also hosts a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Answer: 0-0

Mark Paston, the New Zealand goalkeeper was in fine form and made several vital saves to keep Bahrain scoreless despite their dominance of possession. Bahrain also hit the wood work in the 2nd half .. and even had the ball in the back of the net a few minutes nefore the end of the game, but the referee disallowed the "goal" for a foul in the lead-up!

Answer: Wellington

35,000 fans rocked the "Cake Tin" in Wellington to witness New Zealand's finest soccer moment since the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain. The crowd of 35,194 was not only a record for a New Zealand international home match, it was a record crowd for any soccer match in NZ.

Answer: 1-0 to New Zealand

New Zealand played superbly to keep Bahrain scoreless in the second half. This match, played on 14th November 2009, was the 543rd international match played by New Zealand. After this match their win-loss record was:

213 wins
  88 draws
242 losses
987 goals scored
1020 against

The NZ national team played their first match on 23rd July 1904 in Dunedin, a 0-1 loss to NSW. Their second match was played a week later in Wellington, also against NSW, and finished a 3-3 draw.

New Zealand's first match vs. a national team was played in Dunedin on 17th June 1922, a 3-1 win against Australia. Their second international match was played a week later in Wellington, also against Australia, ended a 1-1 draw.

Answer: Ricki Herbert

Ricki Herbert was a key member of the New Zealand team that qualified for the World Cup finals tournament in 1982, which the first time New Zealand had ever qualified.

Answer: Rory Fallon

At the time this match was played, Rory Fallon was playing in England for Plymouth Argyle (he had previously played for Swansea City, Swindon Town and Barnsley. He is the son of the Kevin Fallon who was Assistant Coach when NZ went to the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain 1982.

This match was Fallon's third international game for New Zealand. Although a Kiwi by birth, Fallon had previously chosen to play for the country of his father's birth, and represented England as a youth international (Under 16s through to Under 20), but a change in FIFA regulations in June 2009 allowed him to play for New Zealand at full-international level. He made his debut for NZ two months earlier, on 9th September 2009.

Answer: Leo Bertos

Leo Bertos was born and bred in Wellington and after a number of roles with professional teams around the world he is now back in Wellington with the Phoenix in the A-League. George Bertos, Leo's dad, is a great bloke!

Answer: Tony Lochhead

It was a fair penalty as Lochhead was beaten for pace. The penalty was given by the referee 5 monutes into the second half, in the 50th minute.

Answer: Ryan Nelson

At the age of 32, Nelson is one of New Zealand's most experienced players. He joined Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League in January 2005; he had previously played for DC United in the USA.

Answer: Uruguay

The referee had a good game despite some ill informed pre-match comments from so called footballing experts.