All Whites secret behind the success

By FRED WOODCOCK - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 29/05/2010

Raul Blanco is something of a secret weapon for the All Whites, and emphasis should be placed on the secret part.

While coach Ricki Herbert and his assistant, Brian Turner, have been the driving force and public faces of the All Whites' World Cup crusade during the past year, Blanco, the All Whites technical adviser, beavers away in the background, providing extra grunt to what is becoming a well-oiled machine.

And the Argentinian-born Australian likes to fly under the radar. He is something of a mystery man in the national setup and that is just the way he likes it.

Interview requests for a feature story have fallen on deaf ears, simply because he likes to steer clear of the limelight. The 68-year-old insists the story is not about him.

Truth is, whether or not Blanco is too modest to admit it, he has played a major part in what the All Whites have achieved during the past year.

Herbert, a friend of "15-odd years, maybe more", has no problem lavishing praise on Blanco, who has been a sounding board for him on the path to the World Cup.

When Blanco was coach of the Australian Olympic team in 2000, Herbert made visits to training sessions to see how he was preparing the team. They stayed in touch and nine years later Herbert, though himself a more mature coach than those days, felt he could again use Blanco's knowledge.

He called him before the All Whites' friendly against Jordan last year, wanting him to come on board for the qualification series against Bahrain.

Blanco had been there, done that.

He was assistant coach of the Socceroos in 1994 when they lost their final qualifying match to Argentina and again in 1998, when Australia had World Cup qualification snatched from them with a 2-2 draw against Iran at the MCG.

"I floated him as being perfect to add to the management group as somebody who could sit in the background," Herbert says. "He's always going to tell you the truth so he's a real sounding board for me. He's been incredibly supportive and we've got a very good relationship."

Naturally, Blanco's contract with New Zealand Football was extended post-Bahrain, with Herbert keen to use him in the buildup to and at the World Cup, which will be his first after the two unsuccessful qualifying attempts with Australia.

"That was important," Herbert says. "The strength of this group has been that we haven't held back if we've needed to add, in any area, and he certainly has added something, so we needed to keep him on.
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"He's incredibly well respected in this group and for me, he's somebody who you can shut the door, yell and scream and talk to, and get advice."

So just how does the relationship work?

Herbert struggles to pinpoint a defined role. Blanco is not used so much in deciding what shape or formation to employ or how the team approaches a particular match – that's Herbert's domain – and he is very much an observer at training.

But they will talk tactics and discuss opposition teams and players, and what that means for New Zealand, in what Herbert describes as a non-threatening way.

"He's somebody who I can sit down with and consult on a number of things, because he's had so much experience. You've got this non-threatening person who sits there with a lot of knowledge. We've got a good mutual understanding.

Blanco is also involved in the analysis side of things. Video analyst Chris Bradley will put together a DVD of matches and opponents, and Blanco and Turner will break it down before presenting it to the playing group, reporting back on everything imaginable. "It's good to have him around. In 10 years time, if somebody in New Zealand wanted to chew an ear off, I'd like to think I could do something similar."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/football/3753029/All-Whites-secret-behind-the-success/