How Do You Solve A Problem Like The All Whites?

New Zealand’s All Whites participation in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup will come to an end this afternoon when they face Portugal in their final Group A fixture and on the balance of their performances that they have already offered you would have to say it is something of a disappointing showng for Anthony Hudson’s men.

Their opening encounter last weekend with Russia can only be deemed as forgettable with the All Whites being masters of their downfall with two cringe inducing blunders in defence laying on both of the hosts goals on a silver plate.

While defeat to Mexico did not sell themselves on the world stage as they ended up throwing away a lead thanks to their talisman Chris Wood and then throwing punches in a melee on the way to a 2-1 defeat, a result which meant that they would not be advancing to the Semi Final stage of the competition.

When you compare these performances to that of the 2010 World Cup when the All Whites were the only team not to lose a fixture as they valiantly bowed out of the group stages with three draws to their name, including one against holders Italy then the contrast is night and day.

But what these performances do highlight though is the struggle that New Zealand will continue to have on the biggest stage, with the question that has to be asked is how do you solve this issue which is their perceived standing in international football.

The thing that New Zealand will always be hamstrung by is their confederation. A nation can only be as strong as their local opposition, this is something Australia were fully aware of when they were playing in the OFC and it is fair to say that they have not looked back since moving to the Asian AFC.

With The Socceroos moving to Asian opposition it means that the All Whites then became the confederational king pins in that part of the world and Australia’s issues then quickly become that of New Zealand’s – quite simply one team being far better than the rest.

Now you could ask why don’t New Zealand also look to the AFC to play their international football. Of course they could but the fear if not the stark reality would be that it would render the OFC obsolete, could you really legislate offering the likes of Tahiti or the Solomon Islands a place at the World Cup.

You would only have to point to Tahiti’s 2013 offerings in the Confederations Cup to see just how far back they are in the hierarchy which is world football. Obviously you could point to the fact that they actually beat the All Whites to win the OFC Nations Cup and go on to Brazil but that is the exception rather than the rule.

So with the All Whites placed firmly in the OFC just what can they do, due to their geographical location they are almost hamstrung due to not being able to call on regular high class opposition when FIFA friendly dates are scheduled.

Therefore they cannot truly test themselves until they get to competitions like the current Confederations Cup or that of the World Cup and with these only taking place every four years then any test in a friendly date a very few and far between.

For example one thing you are not going to see is a European nation fly over to Auckland or Wellington in mid season which means that either the All Whites have to set up a training camp in somewhere like London or have to wait for the close season to embark in something resembling a small European tour.

People say that the country only has a 4m population and is already punching above its weight and that is true to a certain degree but the Republic Of Ireland has a similar size population and very much holds its own in major international tournaments.

What is the difference you ask, it is that the Republic has the might of the UEFA confederation to call upon and has 54 ready made opponents to test their mettle and that is just from Europe along, they can also call on regular South American foes should they want to play against a different style.

So once again it points back to where New Zealand are based, a friendly against Papua New Guinea or the Cook Islands may bring a win more often than not but it does not provide anything resembling a test and therefore how can nation truly develop.

The only true test that the All Whites are going to have is the fact that they are set to be up against COMNEBOL’s 5th place side in the intercontinental play-offs for one of the two remaining World Cup berths at the end of this year, from their point of view it is one the fixture they did not want to be paired up against.

Ideally they would have looked at being paired up against either an African or Asian representative as then it would enhance of returning to the World Cup as they did back in 2010 when they got the better of Bahrain in a two legged play-offs.

It means that more than likely New Zealand will not be returning to a World Cup until 2022 at the earliest but for them there will at least be some light at the end of the tunnel. That being the fact the jewel in FIFA’s crown expands to 48 teams in 2026.

With that being the case and Oceania finally getting an automatic berth for each tournament it means that although the All Whites representation is not a given it is certainly a likelihood for all future editions of the World Cup, so they may need to wait 8 years to truly be at the top table but then they will at least be regular diners at the top table.

Although it could be a case of give with one hand and take with the other as according to some sources this could be the last edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup to be held with an extended Club World Cup mooted to take its plce instead.

If that is to be the case then it gives New Zealand even less opportunities to go up against continental opposition, therefore worsening the plight in the short term, so a word of warning for all fans of the All Whites that it could get worse before it gets better.