Lay out unwelcome mat
Leave your welcome mats at home New Zealand, Andy Martin wants sporting war.
With a Saturday, November 11 date at Westpac Stadium in Wellington confirmed for the first leg of the All Whites’ World Cup playoff against Peru, the New Zealand Football chief executive is urging Kiwis to abandon their customary friendly welcome to mirror what their team will face when they travel to South America.
‘‘Everyone laughs and jokes about the fact it will be uncomfortable for the team, it will be hostile, the hotel will be noisy and disruptive, all of those things we know happen in South America.
‘‘So what we’ve got to think about is what can we do in New Zealand, as a country, to make sure this team know they’re coming into a battle. It’s not about welcoming them into New Zealand for a great experience and a football extravaganza, this is about them coming into our home, and we’re going to make life as difficult for them as possible for them to perform.
‘‘Obviously we want that to be above board and we want everything to be done fairly, but I think we need the New Zealand public thinking ‘yeah, it’s a great spectacle, but it’s the No 12 team in the world, they’re coming into our place to beat us’.’’
What will also make it difficult for Peru to perform is the amount of travel needed to get to New Zealand, especially for their Europebased players who, unlike the All Whites, won’t be used to all the flying needed to get to Wellington.
It was going to be so tricky that Fifa agreed on Sunday to extend the international window for the two sides to accommodate the return fixture, which will take place in Lima almost five full days later at 9.15pm local time on November 15 [3.15pm, Thursday NZ time] at the Estadio Nacional de Lima in Peru’s capital.
‘‘I am sure that was not an easy decision, but we feel it was right one,’’ Martin said.
Kiwi football fans have until 5pm on Monday to sign up for the ticket waitlist for the first leg, which will kickoff at 4.15pm to align closely with the Peruvian timezone (10.15pm on Friday night) and make it more lucrative for NZF to sell the television rights to broadcasters.
Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday at 12pm for those on the wait list, while general sale will start at 12pm on Friday. Prices will be announced on Monday. With temporary seating extending Westpac Stadium’s capacity to 38,500, Martin was expecting a sellout crowd and challenged everyone in attendance to be ready for a battle.