Latest posts by Martin Moodie (see all)
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It is June 20. The crowd is on their feet. The tension is unbearable. The Italian goalkeeper nervously moves his weight from side to side, trying to figure out which side the New Zealander will try to place the penalty kick that will give the unfavoured Kiwis a shock 1-0 lead over the incumbent world champions.
The veteran Kiwi striker steps up, plants the ball to the goalie’s left. The goalie guesses correctly but the pace of the ball beats him. It’s a shock lead to the New Zealand All Whites and the greatest boil-over in FIFA World Cup history is about to happen…
Was history previewing itself yesterday at the new Larnaka International Airport in Cyprus?
For indeed there was a football net, an Italian (looking) goalie and an expectant crowd (ok, three people). However, the Kiwi ‘striker’ was none other than The Moodie Report Publisher and it has to be said that the Italian striker was a photograph and therefore incapable of stretching beyond his existing dive.
Nonetheless, when I stepped up to take the spot kick in CTC-ARI Airports’ excellent World Cup promotion (pictured below), the pressure was on. CTC-ARI Airports General Manager Danny Galvin was on hand; so was Head of Retail and Marketing Martin Mullen (armed with camera) as well as a suitably official-looking referee.
Participants in this promotion have three holes of various sizes in the net to aim for. If they put their kick through, they increase their chances of winning the grand prize (a trip to South Africa for the World Cup) or win an instant mystery prize. It’s interactive, it’s fun and it’s typical of the way this retailer and this airport engages with its consumers.
More familiar with rugby goal posts than a football net, I nominated the red spot. A tricky proposition at the best of times but under this World Cup pressure truly daunting.
To the familiar musical strains of UK football programme ‘Match of the Day’, I stepped up, and duly planted the ball into the gap, wide of the despairing goalie’s dive. Alas, such was the power of the kick that photographer Mullen’s snapshot has missed the critical moment that the ball went through the red hole.
But the shocked reaction of Danny Galvin (below) says it all. Yes folks, the odds of the New Zealand All Whites beating Italy in South Africa on 20 June have just just been slashed from a trillion to one to about… 50 million to one. Get your money on fast. You read it here first.
“……..has missed the critical moment that the ball went through the red hole.”
thats not kind
hope you at least score a goal in the world cup you all white supporter
never mind you will have lots to cheer with the test game v ireland