Editorial: All Whites up against it but one late strike may be gold

Winston Reid of the All Whites controls the ball from Christian Cueva of Peru. Photo / Getty Images

Editorial

Football doesn't often take centre stage in New Zealand. That will change for at least a few hours this afternoon as the All Whites take on Peru in Lima for a place in next year's World Cup finals in Russia.

The odds against New Zealand in this two-leg tie could hardly be higher. Peru are ranked 10th in the world, while the All Whites languish at 122.

The home team will be backed by a noisy, passionate crowd in their fortress-like national stadium, where they saw off Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay in earlier qualifying games.

Patriotism aside, the TAB is paying only $1.11 for Peru to qualify, against $5.50 for the All Whites.

Yet history still beckons for the New Zealand team, just as it did in the successful campaigns of 1982 and 2010.

The All Whites are in with a fighting chance after their scrappy 0-0 draw in the first leg in Wellington.

They could be left ruing missed chances from that game but the longer today's match lasts without a Peruvian goal, the more the pressure builds on the home team, who have struggled to score without their star striker Paolo Guerrero.

If New Zealand does score, they need only a draw to qualify, as the team with the most away goals wins if scores are level on aggregate at full time.

Realistically then, expect the All Whites to play defensively, often with every man behind the ball, as they look to run down the clock until the final minutes.

At that point Burnley striker Chris Wood - assuming he is fit to play - could be a better bet than anyone to grab a late winner. It won't be pretty but it's hard to argue that New Zealand should try to play any other way.

With the exception of Wood, West Ham captain Winston Reid and the hugely impressive Dutch-based Ryan Thomas, none of our players have so far shown the technical skill or tactical vision to play Peru at their own possession-based game.

It may seem churlish to raise the subject now, but this lack of skill development is the long term problem that continues to plague New Zealand football.

Even if the All Whites pull off a stunning upset in Lima today, the problem will follow them all the way to Russia, where the team's technical limitations could be severely exposed on a global stage.

Despite popular mythology, New Zealand ran into the same problem in both 1982 and 2010, especially without the influential Ryan Nelsen in the final game against Paraguay.

There are no easy answers, as most of our best natural athletes choose rugby or league instead of football and the only way to develop outstanding players is to send them overseas.

Coach Anthony Hudson has scoured the world to find quality players with mixed results.

The quest for player development is vital but for now, as Wood's Burnley manager Sean Dyche likes to say, you can't play Barcelona football without Barcelona players. So, let's be happy with what we've got and settle in for another nailbiter.