Kiwis Grind Out Results

New Zealand Coach Ricki Herbert admitted he put an amateur on the field in Sunday's 1-1 tie with Italy to prove a point. Herbert confessed to a New Zealand reporter that he substituted Andy Barron, a 29-year-old bank officer, into the game in the final minutes to show that you don't have to be a highly paid professional to succeed at soccer's highest level.

"We have got a couple of stars," Herbert said. "But we are made up of hard workers, and we grind out results. That's how it is in New Zealand. That's how we are raised, and that's what our spirit is all about."

Italy, the defending World Cup champion, has 4.9-million soccer players, including 3,541 professionals, according to Tony Smith of New Zealand's Dominion Post. That's more than the total population of New Zealand, which has only 25 full-fledged professionals among its 200,000 soccer players.