All Whites goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic is comforted by goalkeeping coach Paul Gothard after NZ's 2-0 loss to Peru yesterday.
Peru's World Cup playoff victory against New Zealand has been marred by accusations of spectators shining lasers into the eyes of All Whites players — including goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic.
Pictures circulating on social media showed Marinovic and Bill Tuiloma with a green light shining on them.
Some fans have labelled the acts “disgusting”, while a number of All Whites supporters took to Twitter to voice their disapproval.
The laser attacks followed a series of incidents which appeared designed to unsettled the All Whites.
Earlier yesterday, three military jets flew low over the New Zealand team hotel in Lima — a seeming continuation of intimidation after an ear-splitting fireworks display took place outside the hotel at 3am local time.
All Whites coach Anthony Hudson and seasoned defender Andrew Durante expressed their frustration at the Peruvians’ off-field tactics to the Herald after the match.
Durante said their opponents “used every trick in the book”.
Hudson called the behaviour of fans “poor”.
“I'm always really honest and I probably shouldn't be at times, but I think it's been poor,” he said.
“We got on the aircraft and I asked the stewardess how long it was to Peru and she said, ‘We're not going to Peru, we're going to Chile!’.”
The coach said the din at the team hotel meant everyone struggled to sleep.