Trophy Visit

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Trophy Visit

Godzone Briefly Graced By World Sport’s Ultimate Prize

by Jeremy Ruane

It stands just 36 centimetres high, weighs in at 6.175 kilograms, and is made of solid 18 carat gold, which is supplemented by two layers of semi-precious malachite in its base.

Its attraction, of course, is magnetic. And its value? In reality, immeasurable. Priceless.

It is, without question, the ultimate prize in world sport. Yes, Olympic gold medals are to be cherished, and rightly, but they are numerous - one for just about every sporting discipline you care to think of, in truth!

As well, derivates of the original have been introduced during the later years of the twentieth Century by other codes. Yet very few of these sports actually involve over 80% of the countries which make up this mortal coil.

Football, of course, does. Some 260 million players in 208 countries play "The Beautiful Game". Little wonder that, ever since the concept was introduced and first played for eighty years ago in 1930, there has only ever been one true World Cup.

Only the privileged few - heads of state and, of course, the winners of the FIFA World Cup itself - actually get their hands on the design of Silvio Gazzaniga. For the rest of us, we can but dream …

By the end of 27 April, at Auckland’s Sky City Convention Centre, approximately 1000 dignitaries, invited guests, school children, competition winners, international footballers and contributors to the fourth estate had gone a lot closer to realising those dreams than most, a result of the chance to get as up close and personal as it’s possible to get without actually touching football’s holy grail.

"The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola", to give it its full title, only made its way to Auckland thanks to the initiative of All Whites’ captain Ryan Nelsen, aided and abetted behind the scenes at FIFA by former NZ Football staff members Michele Cox and Hamish Miller, whose contributions are readily acknowledged in Nelsen’s just-released book, "Ryan Nelsen’s Road to the World Cup".

The Blackburn Rovers skipper was granted a meeting with FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, and General Secretary, Jerome Valcke, in February, during which the matter of the trophy visiting New Zealand was broached.

"They acknowledged the wave of support, the popularity of the New Zealand people that followed the game, and it was an incredible feeling when they said it would be a fantastic idea to get it down there", said Nelsen via a pre-recorded video link during the official welcoming ceremony which kicked off the one-day visit.

"I even offered to get it down there - that I would fund the bill. Thank goodness they declined!! I’m very sorry, Coca-Cola, I think it’s on your doorstep now!"

While disappointed at not being able to be present at the event himself, it wasn’t hard to be taken in by Nelsen’s undisguised passion for what those present would be enjoying. "I think this puts the icing on the cake of the qualification. It really personalises the whole World Cup event for the New Zealand public - to get up close and personal with the greatest prize in world sport.

"It feels good just to know that a lot of people will get a lot of happiness out of this. It will hopefully bring home the enormity of what the All Whites are getting themselves into come June. To be able to put this together - I can’t thank FIFA, Coca-Cola and NZ Football enough".

NZF Chairman, Frank Van Hattum, the All Whites’ goalkeeper at New Zealand’s only previous World Cup Finals experience in 1982, took the opportunity, in light of the significant financial undertaking of Coca-Cola in making the entire FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour a reality, to acknowledge the role of sponsors in the game, and "say thankyou.

"Sponsors do allow dreams to become real for people. All of the members of the ‘82 team are still thankful of the sponsors we had back then who went the extra mile, for instance.

"Then there are FIFA’s global sponsors, who have been around for a very long

This really is as good as it gets!

The trophy is unveiled during the powhiri ceremony

time. Coca-Cola, obviously. Emirates, Hyundai, Sony, Adidas, Visa, Castrol and Budweiser.

"And we’ve also got Sky City, the venue here today, the new home of New Zealand football - that’s fantastic news", Van Hattum beamed. "But I do want to pay particular tribute to Coca-Cola for making something happen that’s quite unique in sport, and to see the turn-out, the interest and the passion - it just symbolises what the World Cup is all about.

"Thankyou, Coca-Cola. It’s been an absolutely amazing experience, and I think it’s a fantastic tribute to the power of your company, and the desire to be involved in football. New Zealand applauds you".

The just-confirmed Patron of the All Whites’ World Cup campaign, Prime Minister John Key, provided a message of support to Ricki Herbert and his squad at the event, while the President of the Oceania Football Confederation, Reynald Temarii, reminded all present that the All Whites won’t be the only New Zealanders in action in South Africa.

"Four other New Zealanders will be involved at the World Cup - two referees and two assistant referees. I would like to acknowledge today the great work of Ken Wallace, the head of the refereeing department of NZ Football, and NZ Football itself, for making sure that, on top of the national teams, we are also performing on the refereeing front.

"The future is great for New Zealand football", enthused one of FIFA’s eight Vice-Presidents. "We talk about the All Whites at the 2010 World Cup, but we are performing at the other FIFA World Cups too - the women, the U-17s and the U-20s. And I’m quite sure that, even after this generation, we can make it (the FIFA World Cup Finals) again.

"But New Zealand Football needs to get support - from its people, from the private sector, and from the government. I hope this FIFA World Cup will make sure that NZ Football gets more of that support, not only during the tournament, but after it too, to help future stars make it in 2014, in 2018, in 2022 and beyond".

The national body’s Chief Executive, Michael Glading, was, like all present, captivated by the magic of the FIFA World Cup, and commented eagerly on the benefits of the trophy’s brief visit to these shores. "As Ryan alluded to, I think it make the whole thing more immediate, more real, more now - seeing is believing.

"It’s part of something which is just going to build, and it’s a great way to launch that build phase. The team goes into camp this week, so to me, it literally kicks the World Cup off for us".

Ricki Herbert, Brian Turner and some of the All Whites squad members attended the day-long event after the official activities had concluded, mixing and mingling with fans throughout the afternoon before Auckland’s time with the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour was all too quickly over - Toronto next stop, with Miami and Houston to follow before the tour’s conclusion this weekend.

The All Whites’ camp commences on 28 April, with the launch of the team strip which will be used during the World Cup Finals. There is a behind-closed-doors friendly taking place in Auckland on Saturday, while a public training session is scheduled on Tuesday afternoon at North Harbour Stadium, from 3.45pm.

The squad will attend the NZ Football Awards evening on Friday, May 7, and two days later, as the New Zealand "A" team, will take on the NZFC All Stars XI at North Harbour Stadium from 2pm.

Herbert is expected to name the World Cup squad before the May 19 deadline, after which the All Whites will take on Australia in Melbourne on May 24, Serbia in Austria five days later, and Slovenia in Maribor on June 4.

They then head to South Africa, and will take on Chile in a training match in Nelspruit on June 9, two days prior to the commencement of world sport’s quadrennial footballing feast.

Slovakia (June 15 in Rustenburg), Italy (June 20 in Nelspruit) and Paraguay (June 24 in Polokwane) provide New Zealand’s opposition at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals.

2010 World Cup