The Flying Kiwis: No longer flightless, spreading football fandom at the World Cup

WELLINGTON (NEW ZEALAND): (May 18) 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.