Football: The All Whites' unprecedented security plan

All Whites coach Anthony Hudson. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

The All Whites are taking no chances are they prepare for the do or die match with Peru on Thursday (NZT).

While it is a massive match for New Zealand Football - as another opportunity to go to a World Cup - the stakes are even higher for the home team.

Peru haven't been to Fifa's global showpiece in 35 years, and no one in the current team was born the last time the La Blanquirroja qualified in 1982.

There have been some close shaves for Peru in qualifying down the years, but nothing like this; a 90 minute game to decide their destiny.

Because of the situation, New Zealand Football has implemented an unprecedented security plan.

There are three security guards with the team at all times, and if players want to leave the hotel they need to be escorted by one of them.

Peruvians have been extremely hospitable - and the most likely scenario is being mobbed for photos or autographs - but there is no margin for error or risk.

Generally the team is confined to their plush five star hotel in the fashionable Miraflores district, right on the coast.

The huge building - almost 100m high - backs onto the sea and the All Whites are on one of the top floors, secluded away from the noise and chaos below them.

It's part of the plan to prevent a repeat of the drama that engulfed the Socceroos in Uruguay in 2001, when their hotel was surrounded all night by local fans banging drums, pot and pans and blowing whistles.

The hotel also has a heavy police presence around it, and the All Whites were shielded by members of the riot squad on Tuesday as they boarded the team bus to go to training.

The All Whites will have their final training run on Wednesday (NZT), which will double as their first sight of the Estadio Nacional de Lima, the match venue for Thursday's clash.

Coach Anthony Hudson and captain Winston Reid also face the press, but Peru have reportedly cancelled their traditional pre-match media session, perhaps as an indication of the pressure they are under.