Nov 14, 2009, 8:50 GMT
Wellington - New Zealand beat Bahrain 1-0 in Wellington Saturday in the final playoff between the Asian and Oceania football confederations to go into the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.
A header from former English youth international Rory Fallon, playing only his third match for the national All Whites, just before half-time was enough to give the home side the edge in a rugged and often scrappy game before 35,500 spectators, the biggest crowd-ever to watch a soccer match in New Zealand.
But New Zealand goalkeeper Mark Paston was the All Whites' hero, saving a penalty shot from Bahrain's Sayed Mohamed Adnan just after the interval.
The two sides fought out a 0-0 draw when they met in the first leg of the playoff in Manama last month.
It will be the second time New Zealand has reached the World Cup finals - the first a generation ago, in 1982 in Spain.
The Bahrain side, who outplayed the New Zealanders in some aspects of the game, was devastated by the result which produced ecstatic celebrations among the vociferous New Zealand crowd at the final whistle.
Your Talkback on this Story