Their quest to be one of the 32 finalists in South Africa 2010 captured my imagination not because I am an avid follower of the football - or soccer as they call our favourite pastime Down Under - fortunes of this faraway country but because of my long-held sympathy for underdogs in international football.

News that New Zealand had sealed their place in the finals after edging Bahrain in their World Cup play-off brought a smile to my face. My interest in New Zealand's exploits increased when I discovered that Raul Blanco was part of their technical staff for the play-off.

Raul Blanco may not be a household name in local football circles but in Australia, the Argentine-born coach enjoyed a long and successful association with Parramatta Melita Eagles during the latter's heyday.

One of the Maltese players Blanco had under his wings during his long stint with the Eagles was Ray 'Żażu' Farrugia, the former Malta U-21 coach who was the darling of the Melita faithful during his long spell with the Sydney-based club.

"I was invited by the New Zealand federation to be their technical advisor for the World Cup play-off," Blanco told The Times from his home in Sydney.

"I have a very good relationship with Ricki Herbert, New Zealand's national coach. When I was in charge of Australia's Olympic team for Sydney 2000, Ricki used to come to see how we were preparing for that tournament. We made him feel at ease whenever he turned up for our training sessions and we've stayed in touch.

"I had spoken to Ricki several times in the past few years but, at no stage, did he give me a hint about his intentions. It was three months ago when Ricki told me:

'I want you to join the national team. You've been in this situation before and we want to make sure that we do everything as best as we can'.

"Ricki invited me to New Zealand and asked me to go and watch the qualifying play-off between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. I signed a contract with the New Zealand federation until the last match of their qualifying campaign, so that has finished now but hopefully I'll get the chance to go to the World Cup with the team."

Blanco, who is also the director of coaching at Macarthur Rams, a second division club in Australia, is no stranger to World Cup play-offs but he thought his chances of being involved in the World Cup proper had vanished after Australia's defeats to Argentina and Iran in the deciders for the 1994 and 1998 finals.

"I was the assistant coach of Eddie Thomson when Australia lost to Argentina in the play-off for the 1994 World Cup finals," Blanco, who was born in Buenos Aires but migrated to Australia 42 years ago, recalled. "It was the team of Maradona, Batistuta, Balbo and I still believe that Argentina would have gone far in USA 1994 had Maradona not tested positive for doping.

"I was caretaker coach of Australia and also worked as Terry Venables's assistant."

The scenes of joy that accompanied New Zealand's 1-0 win over Bahrain in the second leg of the play-off astounded Blanco.

"It was fantastic," Blanco reminisced. "I was impressed and shocked in a positive way. The New Zealand fans filled the stadium. Around 150,000 turned up for the celebration parade.

"New Zealand was not considered as a footballing nation but the way the people embraced the team's qualification to the World Cup was just amazing.

"Thanks to this achievement, the popularity of football in New Zealand will soar. Qualification is worth around A$10 million and hopefully the game will benefit from this windfall."

It has taken New Zealand 27 years to qualify for the World Cup finals where they will be pitting their wits against reigning champions Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay.

Blanco attributed this success to the participation of Wellington Phoenix, who have Malta right-back Manny Muscat on their books, in Australia's A-League and the increasing number of New Zealand players in English leagues.

"Having a New Zealand team in the A-League was a big boost for the national side," Blanco explained. "The Wellington Phoenix players are competing in the top football league in the region and this has raised their level.

"There are eight to 10 players based overseas and this made it possible for New Zealand to create a good squad."

Blanco is in no doubt that the man who made it happen for New Zealand was Herbert.

"Ricki is a very bright young coach," Blanco said.

"He's doing exceptionally well with Wellington Phoenix. I was surprised with his work, he did a wonderful job in difficult circumstances.

"We made every effort to ensure that we went into the play-off well-prepared. We spent six days in Doha and that really stood the team in good stead."

Malta being one of the tiniest nations in European football, our dream of ever emulating New Zealand's feat will probably remain unfulfilled.

Nevertheless, the minnows of international football can do a lot worse than take a leaf out of New Zealand's copybook.

Blanco is of the opinion that a dearth of matches against top-level opposition is one of Malta's drawbacks.

"One of the things a nation like Malta must do to improve is to play as many international matches as they can," Blanco opined. "Being so close to Europe, Malta have the opportunity to play against some top teams.

"New Zealand faced some top nations in the Confederations Cup and that experience made them a better team.

"I understand that Malta's task in qualifying matches is harder because they are competing against the cream of European and world football but they should try harder to improve their standards.

"Having more foreign-based players would also strengthen the Maltese team."

Farrugia praise

Blanco's voice softened when he started to talk about his 'love affair' with Parramatta Melita Eagles, the Sydney-based club that was founded by Maltese migrants in the fifties.

"Melita are so close to my heart," Blanco reflected. "They are my home. I spent 16 to 17 years with the club, on and off.

"That's an incredible amount of time and certain things in life you never forget. I started my coaching career with Melita.

"The people at Melita were tough with the money but they always kept their word. It was a well-run club with a family atmosphere.

"We had a few Maltese players during my time at Melita. In my opinion, the best Maltese player to don Melita's shirt was Ray Farrugia. Ray was not only a gifted player, he was also a gentleman.

"Because Australia is so far from Malta, maybe the people there don't know much about Ray's career in Australian football but I can tell you that he was a wonderful ambassador for the country in many different ways.

"He was a true professional and I've always known him as a man of integrity. I can't speak highly enough of Ray Farrugia."