Football: All Whites driven by distractions

The moment the All Whites World Cup dream started to fade - Peru striker Jefferson Farfan hammers Peru's opening goal past Stefan Marinovic. Photo / AP

Delayed, diverted, cursed, kept awake by fireworks, swooped by fighter jets, lasered ... it's almost remarkable the All Whites lost only 2-0 to Peru in their much-hyped World Cup playoff in Lima yesterday.

Peruvians desperate to end a 36-year wait between World Cups created as much frustration as possible for the visiting Kiwis and then delivered two killer blows on the pitch to earn the 32nd and final place at Russia 2018.

All Whites coach Anthony Hudson couldn't hide his irritation at the massive interference his team faced in their build-up.

"I'm always really honest and I probably shouldn't be at times, but I think it's been poor," Hudson said after the game.

"We got on the airplane 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'.

"Ever since then, it's been unbelievable. We didn't sleep at all last night with the fireworks.

"Today, I thought I'd grab a quick hour's sleep by the pool and all of a sudden all these jet fighter planes are flying past and the pilots are taking selfies in the planes with their Peru shirts on.

"But never once in the two or three days here in Peru have we used that as an excuse. We've got such an honest group of players who have dealt with it so well - they've been so calm with it all.

"We just got on with it and said we wouldn't let it beat us and we did deal with it very well," he said.

Goals to Jefferson Farfan and Christian Ramos gave Peru the 2-0 win which sends them to the World Cup for the first time since 1982.

The victory was greeted with delirious scenes inside Estadio Nacional and on the streets of Lima as millions of Peruvians celebrated the victory.

The celebrations after Farfan's opening goal were so forceful that several earthquake-detection apps were alerted to a potential natural disaster. According to goal.com, the Spanish version of the Earthquake Network app sent out an alert moments after Farfan's goal.

Peru's supporters tried everything, from a pre-match curse by witch doctors to high-tech lasers in the stadium, to ruin New Zealand's hopes.

Pictures showed lasers being shone on All Whites midfielder Bill Tuiloma and goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic.

"They used every trick in the book to try and put us off," said defender Andrew Durante. "We knew what we were going to be in for and we knew that they would throw everything at us, and they did."

Durante said the atmosphere in the cauldron made the game one of the toughest challenges of his career.

"It was also really hard to communicate with each other, trying to scream at the players, it was very difficult with the players.

"It was a huge challenge. A very good footballing nation, an unbelievable crowd, the support of the nation behind them, it was always going to be a huge task."

But Durante said the distractions were not excuses for the on-field performance. "We had a strong mindset that we wouldn't let any of that affect us," said Durante. "We can't use any of that as a reason. We came with a game plan and we stuck to it for long periods. We rode the storm but the second goal killed us."

Durante said Peru deserved their victory. "I thought we were really good in periods, but over the 90 minutes, they were the better team."

Hudson diverted questions about his future as New Zealand coach, saying it wasn't the time for those discussions.

"I'm incredibly disappointed but my initial feeling is one of incredible pride for the players. Peru are a quality team, and on the night, they just had a bit too much for us."