Hayden Meikle: All Whites wipe floor with rugby

Are we dreaming? That's how it seems.

We are going to the World Cup. We are going to the World Cup. We are going to the World Cup.

Normally, "we" refers to the Premier League club of our choice, at least from August through May.

Even as recently as Friday I was texting a friend to say I was crossing my fingers for an All Whites win to numb the pain of a dreadful Liverpool season.

Talk about a pain-killing injection.

There is still pain - bitter, bitter pain that I wasn't in Wellington to watch the miracle unfold - but mainly there is this serene level of bliss that just won't go away.

Perhaps it will last right through the next Anfield crisis.

On a personal level, this is the happiest I've been as a sports fan since North Otago won the old NPC third division final in 2002.

But in the bigger picture, I can't pinpoint a more exciting moment in New Zealand sport for a long, long time.

By now I have talked to half a dozen people who were at the Wellington game, part of the 35,000-strong crowd that watched the Mark Paston penalty save and the Rory Fallon goal in New Zealand's sensational 1-0 win against Bahrain.

All said the same thing.

Best atmosphere ever at a New Zealand sporting event. Ever.

I watched the game at home with two passionate football fans, my father-in-law and my 18-year-old brother-in-law.

We were up off our seats in the tense moments, and when Fallon and Paston performed their heroics we yelled as loudly as we could without waking my 16-month-old son in the next room. (I told my wife I would happily wake the boy up so he could witness this historic moment.)

There was so much to like about this All Whites performance.

My star men were Leo Bertos, a beautiful striker of the ball and creative presence in a side built more on ticker than pure talent, and Paston.

The weird thing is I've never really rated Paston. I've been a huge fan of Glen Moss, a hugely talented goalkeeper who was hung out dry by a pathetic Fifa suspension, butPaston performed superbly.

Ryan Nelsen was his usual reliable self at the back and Ben Sigmund worked his tail off beside him.

I'm a little biased with Ben because my stepchildren are Sigmunds - Ben's cousins - and I know Ben's grandfather and his uncle.

Tim Brown battled away in midfield, Chris Killen did some great work up front, Chris Wood looked lively off the bench and Fallon showed his aerial skills and came up with a powerful header.

There were some concerns. Shane Smeltz had a couple of golden opportunities he should have buried, Tony Lochhead was a bit scratchy and several times the All Whites were beaten for pace.

But they were minor blips on a great night for New Zealand football.

Apart from the game having so much at stake, it was just nice to be watching the All Whites in primetime. Rugby saturates the market from February to November, and there is plenty of British football, but All Whites coverage is generally limited to one or two games at awful hours
a year.

It's tough, with our players scattered around the globe, but I would love to see more All Whites games played in New Zealand.

The game has also shone a very unflattering light on international rugby. It's boring and it's predictable and there's too bloody much of it.

It also doesn't produce stories like this: Apparently defender Ben Sigmund was hosting friends and family at his home in Wellington
for a BBQ the day after the Bahrain game.

Running low on some essential supplies, Sigmund popped out to his local dairy, gathered up his tomato sauce and his sandwich-sliced bread and went up to the counter.

And what does the bloke behind the counter say?

"You don't have to pay today.''

Nice. Go the All Whites.