WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — They call themselves the Flying Kiwis, an eclectic group of New Zealanders from around the world who, whenever their national soccer team plays a major match, assemble to provide raucous and usually outnumbered support.The deliberate irony: Kiwis — the eponymous bird from which New Zealanders take their nickname — are flightless. Since 2009 the Flying Kiwis have followed the New Zealand men’s team at home and overseas and they’ll be at the World Cup, offering a small island of loud, proud and distinctly Kiwi support.
Small beginningsIn 2009, New Zealand played Bahrain in a two-game qualifying series, with the winner advancing to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. After the first leg in Bahrain ended in a 0-0, New Zealand needed a win in the return match at home to qualify for the World Cup.Matt Fejos, who was then a university student and, he admits, not a hard-core football fan, wanted to lend as much spirit as possible to the New Zealand team.“So I got a credit card with a $1,000 limit and I bought 32 tickets for my mates and we wanted to do all we could, so we got banners and we got the coveralls saying Flying Kiwis and we got New Zealand flags,” Fejos said. “That was a pretty memorable moment for anyone who was there and for football to arrive in New Zealand a little bit.”
