KEY POINTS:
The All Whites have ended their brief South American soccer tour with a second heavy defeat, going down 5-0 to Venezuela today (NZT).
Following on from their 4-0 loss to Costa Rica on Sunday, Ricki Herbert's team couldn't match the Venezuelans who tortured the All Whites' defence with
fast breaks and nimble footwork.
New Zealand employed a back four at Estadio Jose Pachencho Romero in Maracaibo in a bid to strengthen the defensive line from the three easily pierced by Costa Rica.
The All Whites were unlucky to see the score blow out to 5-0 after keeping the Venezuelans scoreless for an extended period of the second half before a penalty in the 40th minute was followed by an apparent own goal in the last play of the game.
The world 74th ranked side looked at least that much better than the 129th ranked All Whites, putting the New Zealanders a goal down in the 8th minute when Paez curled a left-footed free kick around the wall and past the outstretched goalkeeper Mark Paston.
The next goal told the story of the match as the pacy Venezuelan midfield outstripped the All Whites for striker De Ornelas to have an unchallenged run at Paston, who was unable to get a hand on the low 15m shot.
Trailing 2-0 at halftime, the All Whites pressed forward but after Venezuela won possession, De Ornelas again outstripped the desperately chasing cover and bent the ball around the exposed Paston.
The All Whites kept the ball out of the back of their net for the next half hour before some shirt-pulling in the box persuaded the referee to award the Venezuelans a penalty despite New Zealand protests about an offside.
Five minutes later the misery was complete as the New Zealand own goal closed out the match and a tour that ended with nine goals against and no goals scored.
For the All Whites, Leo Bertos looked sharp on the right of midfield until being subbed for Jeremy Brickie, while Shane Smeltz tried hard but lacked support as the sole target man up front.
Perhaps the All Whites' best chance came from a corner in the 26th minute.
After Bertos slung the ball in to skipper Danny Hay the wall found its way back to Bertos who neatly chipped it in again.
Defender Steven Olds put the ball over the bar unmarked at short range, but the linesman had the offside flag up anyway.
The All Whites weren't without opportunities -- Chris James having a long range dig and Bertos again finding a teammate in the box from a free kick, but the New Zealanders finished unrewarded.
- NZPA
