6: Kiwis win and take the cash, part two

The Kiwis came to Brisbane for the 1998 Oceania Nations Cup and predictably ended up in the final with Australia – who’d earlier racked up cricket scores against some farcical opposition. But the New Zealanders won 1-0 when it mattered to collect the $1.3mil along with entry to the 1999 Confederation Cup finals the next year in Mexico. We so needed that cash boost.

In contrast to current incarnations, the final was a damning indictment on both nations and the state of Oceania football generally. Two very ordinary sides in front of an empty Suncorp stadium with Australia ending the day empty-handed. Just an awful, awful day for the game in this country underlining how far we'd sunk. In fact. it was so bad, there doesn't appear to be any pictures of it so we've had to use this one of Patrick Kisnorbo struggling to take in history repeating when the Kiwis claimed victory again four years later.

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