New Zealand’s All Whites tried to qualify for the 1984 Summer Olympics tournament in Los Angeles but faced an arduous qualification process.
In the first round of qualification games for Asian nations, New Zealand topped their group of Japan and Chinese Taipei.
But in the second round, the All Whites played in a five-nation group at a qualifying tournament in Singapore, from April 14-29, 1984.
New Zealand lost all four of their group games, beaten by Saudi Arabia (3-1), Kuwait (2-0), South Korea (2-0) and Bahrain (1-0).
Defender Ricki Herbert scored New Zealand’s only goal at the tournament, against Saudi Arabia.
The 1984 Olympics were the first to allow non-amateur players to represent their countries, a move that significantly raised the profile of football as an Olympic sport.
The nations to qualify for the Los Angeles Games were Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The eventual gold medalists were France who beat Brazil in a final watched by 101,799 at California’s Rose Bowl.
New Zealand squad
Goalkeepers
Frank van Hattum
Barry Pickering
Rudi Feitsma
Defenders
Adrian Elrick
Glen Adam
Ricki Herbert
Ken Cresswell
Ceri Evans
David Burgess
Allan Boath
Keith Garland
Midfielders
Peter Henry
Billy McClure
Duncan Cole
Steve Sumner
Keith Mackay
Grant Turner
Michael Groom
Peter Simonsen
Forwards
Steve Woodin
Fred de Jong
Colin Tuaa
Staff
Head coach: Allan Jones
Assistant coach: Kevin Fallon
Physiotherapist: Doug Edwards
Read the programme
A souvenir programme was published for the two-week tournament in Singapore:
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