They held a nation enthralled. The efforts of the All Whites in going through the first round of the World Cup undefeated were superb. To cause the demise of the defending world champion Italy was to ensure that New Zealand will never be taken lightly again.
This was a campaign in which the emergence of New Zealand players, grown at home but honed overseas, demonstrated the way of the future for the sport.
New Zealand must always be a feeder country. We do not have the internal structures to allow players of potential to mature in the best environment. Look at the way Tommy Smith and Winston Reid came from nowhere to contribute to the cause this year.
The players and coach, a remarkable contributor to his sport is Ricki Herbert and a man whose efforts deserve to be enshrined among the great coaches of New Zealand sport: Fred Allen, Arthur Lydiard, Brian Lochore, Rusty Robertson, to name a few, have done their bit, now it is the turn of the administrators.
In 1982 New Zealand football failed to take the initiative. It is to be hoped the short-term vision of the administrators of this era surpasses that of the old. It is to be equally hoped that the in-fighting in the game in New Zealand is eliminated as well. The notion that if 'it's New Zealand then it can't be any good' has effectively been eliminated by this year's achievements, and now hopefully a New Zealand way can be developed for the betterment of the game.
Getting international teams to visit New Zealand is going to be difficult. Despite the success in South Africa it is still a long way to come. A relationship with Australia would work best to make travel a more viable and appropriate option.
Having overseas-based New Zealand players available is also going to be a problem. They can only really be interested in Confederations Cup or World Cup-qualifying campaigns.
What will be necessary, if it isn't already in place and suggestions from this campaign is that it wasn't, is a register of all New Zealanders, and eligible players, overseas with regular sifting of match play to keep whoever is involved in coaching in the future in the picture.
Let's face it, New Zealand has always had a strong core of young people who play the game. But like so many sports in New Zealand, it struggles for coaches. Producing meaningful coaching schemes across a broader base than is the case at the moment is the challenge for administrators.
Central to any such scheme has to be the realisation that few, if any, coaches are likely to be able to produced the ultimate finished product. Overseas expertise will be necessary for that. And that costs money.
Not every country finds the right person to achieve that requirement and getting someone in New Zealand capable of fitting the bill will require the wisdom of Solomon.
The easy part has been making a mark on the football world at the World Cup, the hard part is building on that success.