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Richard Moore's Straight Talk Columns

Pride, passion, guts - sounds like Halberg

15/2/2011

CRIKEY, who'd be an All White.

The national soccer team that earned the praise of Kiwis and soccer lovers with their gutsy effort in the World Cup Finals is now being crucified by some fellow sportsmen for winning this year's Supreme Halberg Award.

In case you've forgotten, the All Whites, who were ranked 78th in the world, took on some major soccer names in Paraguay, Slovakia and Italy and drew all three games.

It wasn't pretty, but it was pretty amazing, and they played with pride, passion and guts.

Paraguay got to the World Cup for the fourth time in a row. They are a South American soccer power and were knocked out from the last eight teams by a single goal from eventual winner Spain.

Slovakia has been runner-up twice when playing as Czechoslovakia in 1934 and 1962.

Italy, as everyone knows, is football. It is the second most successful nation in history with four World Cup wins: 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006.

Against those teams the All Whites, in the biggest sporting competition in the world, did not lose a match.

They were expected to get thumped by at least two of their opponents.

For that gutsy effort the soccer guys won their award and this has split the sporting country with many people recognising a genuine, huge achievement, while others moan how can that be the top effort for a New Zealand sporting side when they didn't win anything.

A Halberg judge, Dick Tayler quit in protest. Tayler, who was the 10,000m gold medallist at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, said he was ``irate'' and ``speechless'' regarding the decision.

Champion rower Mahe Drysdale reckons the awards are about sporting excellence and should just be for winners.

``If they [the All Whites] had made the semifinals, for example, then maybe that is a case where they are worthy over an actual winner.

``But the fact is they won one out of nine games and didn't even finish in the top 16 at the World Cup.''

Sorry, Mahe, maybe you've had too many early mornings in freezing air.

To reach the final 16 at the World Cup is huge and as for being in the semis - that's an Everest-high goal for any major soccer nation, let alone New Zealand.

Former Black Cap Adam Parore also slammed the award. Parore said the All Whites did not warrant winning something that is supposed to honour sporting excellence.

Well, one would have to ask, what would a Black Cap know about sporting excellence?

Parore added he had been disenchanted with the Halbergs for years because they honoured minority sports rather than sportsmen and women who performed at a winning level.

Um, Adam, rugby is a minor sport. You may not like to hear it, but in world terms it means bugger all.

The International Rugby Board claims to have 94 member countries but, honestly, do any of them out of the top 20 have anything other than a handful of expat Kiwis, Brits, South Africans or Aussies playing there?

Soccer's Fifa has more than 200 registered nations with any of 20 sides able to give the World Cup a serious nudge.

In rugby you have a maximum of five.

There are 240 million registered soccer players worldwide - 60 times the whole of NZ - rugby can manage two million. Rugby league has 1 million. Netball about 20 million.

What are the most popular sports in the world?

No1 is, surprise, soccer, then it's cricket, field hockey, tennis, volleyball, table tennis, baseball, golf, basketball, American football.

Didn't see rugby or rowing there. N

ow don't get me wrong, I love rugby and Australia winning its third World Cup this year will put me over the moon, but if the Socceroos were to win the World Cup in soccer I'd be visiting Alpha Centauri.

The other thing that these sportsmen seem to forget is that the Halberg Trust not only honours excellence, but also is there to get young disabled people play and be active with their non-disabled friends.

That is the organisation's key aim.

Sir Murray Halberg was a champion New Zealand athlete who suffered a serious, arm-crippling injury while playing rugby and switched to running. He overcame his disability through guts and determination and went on to be NZ's first sub four-minute miler, won Commonwealth gold over three miles in 1958 and in 1960 at the Rome Olympics won the 5000m. He also set four world records.

But Halberg's career was built on overcoming the odds, of never saying anything was too hard and of proving to the world that you could shine as a sportsman by just doing your best in unlikely circumstances.

That's what the All Whites did.

And that's why they are deserving of the Supreme Halberg Award.

richard@richardmoore.com