Kiwis are celebrating one of New Zealand’s greatest sporting moments with the All Whites claiming an historic goal to draw 1-1 against Slovakia in the first round of the FIFA World Cup finals. This is the first time the All Whites have scored a point at Football World Cup level, and only the second time in New Zealand’s history that the national squad has made it into the Football World Cup finals.

The last time the All Whites qualified for the fiercely competitive World Cup finals was 28 years ago in Spain, when the team went home after racking up three losses in the first round.

Major achievement
All Whites coach Ricki Herbert, who was part of the squad that went to New Zealand’s first FIFA World Cup in 1982, said the result was a significant achievement for a team that was picked to be the underdogs of the competition.

"We were never picked to win a point at a World Cup, albeit we’ve only been twice. We came across with intentions to make a difference and we’ve done that. I thought we played very well against a highly ranked team so I’m very proud."

Man of the hour

For many proud Kiwis, the man of the moment is All Whites’ fullback Winston Reid - who scored the historic World Cup goal at the eleventh hour, just minutes before the final whistle blew.

Reid scored what has been called a "last-gasp header" after muscling in on a cross by team mate Shane Smeltz. The All Whites have two more teams to play in their Group F round - Paraguay and defending champions Italy. All four Group F teams are currently sitting on one point and New Zealand is scheduled to play against Italy next Monday.Reid is a Maori - Danish player and previously played for several Danish club teams, including the national Under-19 squad and the 2009 European Under-21 Championship qualification tournament.

He was selected to be part of the All Whites in May, and made his debut for the New Zealand side against Australia soon after. Reid was also part of the line-up that beat Serbia 1-0 in a pre-World Cup friendly in late May.

Cheers for underdogs

It’s not just Kiwi fans who are cheering on their national sporting heroes - the world’s media are also giving the All Whites the thumbs-up.

The Guardian newspaper in the UK said: "Herbert’s men continued to be engaging for the spirit that ensured there would be no collapse and the ultimate reward was handsome." The New York Times, which covered the game live, posted at the end of the blog: "Amazing! Winston Reid scores a goal in injury time to give New Zealand a tie in this game!" Kiwi fans have also been getting behind the All Whites - by posting messages of support online on local news websites and blogs.

"There is nothing like a team of Kiwi battlers to do us proud. It was a gutsy effort against a team better equipped than ourselves."

"Great fighting spirit from the boys. Exactly what we want to see from them at this World Cup … we’re not going to be whipping boys!"

"As a Kiwi I am very proud of the achievements of our football team. Irrespective of the results from now on - good on you boys, you’ve done us all proud."

Background: FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, also known as the Football World Cup, is an international men’s football championship held every four years.

Brazil has won the World Cup five times since its inception in 1930, and is the only team to have played in every single tournament. Italy is the current holder of the cup.

The World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated audience of 715.1 million for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Thanks to newzealand.com