But what goes around, can come around. New Zealand, whose 13-0 victory over Fiji in 1982 stood for a time as the biggest World Cup football win, have fared less well in cricket. Their meagre 26 all-out against England in 1955 is still the lowest ever Test innings total. In rugby, the Antipodeans are undisputed kings of the crushing defeat. And New Zealand breezed past hapless Japan 145-17 at union's World Cup in 1995.
Thrashings have no respect for age, but they do tend to prey on the young.
American Samoa are a young footballing nation. And Russian tennis star Natasha Zvereva was a young prospect when she faced Steffi Graf in the final of the 1988 French Open. Across the Pond, America has celebrated losers of its own. The eagle soared. . . So, American Samoa's footballers can rest assured that they face abject defeat in good company.