Peru a bridge too far for hamstrung All Whites
AUCKLAND: All Whites boss Anthony Hudson has lamented star striker Chris Wood’s hamstring injury and prematch Peruvian gamesmanship after his side’s 20 World Cup playoff aggregate loss to Los Incas.
Hudson’s Kiwis fell 20 in yesterday’s second leg in Lima to goals in either half by Jefferson Farfan and Christian Ramos. The two sides had drawn 00 in last week’s first leg in Wellington.
New Zealand’s loss means it has fallen at the final hurdle of its run to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, having cruised through Oceania qualifying.
Hudson was chuffed to bits with his side’s determination after it was forced to start without Wood in both legs.
The 25yearold striker — who came into the All Whites’ camp with a hamstring complaint — came off the bench at halftime in Lima, but could not help the Kiwis fashion more than three shots in the 90 minutes.
Peru, by comparison, moved the ball from side to side accurately in front of a fanatical home crowd and were rarely flustered by Hudson’s tactics.
Its class — despite the absence of skipper Paolo Guerrero — eventually told, booking its first World Cup campaign since 1982.
Hudson said everything could have been different with a fully fit Wood.
‘‘The decision for me was, do we start with Chris Wood and not finish? Or do we start the game and have our best team on at the end?’’ Hudson said.
‘‘If we’d have started with him and we’d have stayed in the game, he would’ve done his hamstring and it would’ve been a problem.’’
Under a torrent of early pressure, the All Whites rode their luck when wingback Luis Advincula struck the crossbar with a vicious thirdminute shot from well outside the box.
Yet despite sitting deep, they conceded within half an hour to a rising Farfan shot, before Ramos finished off the job from a corner in the 65th minute.
Hudson congratulated Peru for their progression to the World Cup but felt his side had fallen prey to a variety of underhand prematch tactics.
Fireworks were let off around the team hotel in the middle of the night, military jets flew overhead, the team’s buses were
frequently delayed and their flight to Peru was also forced into a late stopover in Chile.
Peruvian fans could also be seen shining lasers into the eyes of Kiwi goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic and Bill Tuiloma during the match.
While Hudson said his side had not been intimidated by those incidents, he believed they did play a role in the defeat.
‘‘Probably in the end, New Zealand coming to Peru, we were probably not meant to win given every single obstacle that was put in our way,’’ Hudson said. — NZN