All Whites great Steven Sumner dies

Steve Sumner, the legendary All Whites captain who led them to the World Cup finals, has died, aged 61.

The Christchurch football icon had been suffering from prostate cancer, after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of the cancer in August 2015.

Sumner, along with coaches John Adshead and Kevin Fallon, was central to one of the great New Zealand sporting campaigns, when an under-rated New Zealand side went on a record 15-game qualifying run that took them to the 1982 finals in Spain.

It was the first time New Zealand had qualified for the finals, something they have repeated just once since - in 2010.

New Zealand performed creditably there, losing to USSR, Brazil and Scotland.

Most pundits would agree that no one player has had a greater impact on New Zealand football than Sumner. Wynton Rufer was the best technical player this country has produced, and Ryan Nelson and Winston Reid have reached the rarefied heights of the English Premier League, but Sumner's influence was immense.

Sumner played 105 times for the All Whites (including 58 'A' internationals) over a 12-year period, scoring 27 goals.

He was a Christchurch United stalwart, winning a record seven Chatham Cups and five league titles. He received Fifa's highest honour - the Order of Merit award - in 2010 for services to football. 

His 1982 World Cup team mate Sam Malcolmson said Sumner was a "great leader and a great man".

"He wasn't born a great player, but he wanted to be the best, he had the desire," said a tearful Malcolmson.

"He was single minded, self driven. He demanded from the players what he demanded from himself."

Malcolmson said Sumner's wife Jude and Adshead were the people who had the biggest influencing in turning a "brash" young player into a man who would become one of the finest sports captains New Zealand has produced.

Sumner would ask the hard questions of influential figures such as Adshead and New Zealand soccer boss Charlie Dempsey.

"He got in everyone's ear...he made us believe we could do it," Malcolmson said.

He recalled how Steve and Jude Sumner had offered him extraordinary support in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake - Malcolmson's company was based in Christchurch and he had more than 90 employees to assist.

"Their door was always open - he rang me every day," said Malcolmson.

"The last few weeks he has been in and out of consciousness, delusional. So this is a relief for his family and friends, everyone who knew him. He was a bloody good bloke."

- NZ Herald