Bahrain's World Cup hopes were blown away as they missed a second-half penalty in New Zealand, who marched through with a 1-0 victory in Wellington. After Rory Fallon headed the hosts into a first-half lead, Sayed Adnan had a chance to send the Gulf nation to South Africa, only to be denied by keeper Mark Paston. The first leg of the Asia/Oceania playoff ended in a goalless draw in Bahrain. "I've been very honest about the quality of this team," said New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert, who led the Kiwis to the World Cup for the first time since Spain 1982. "They've all worked hard. We all backed the system and we truly believed it was good enough to win and they have gone and done it."