Hayden Meikle: All Whites wipe floor with rugby

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Ben Sigmund . . . a better story than rugby could produce. Credit:NZPA / Ross Setford.

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.