Football: Ashburton Peruvian fans gearing up for All Whites encounter

A group of Peruvian dairy farmers in South Canterbury are gearing up to cheer on their side in the World Cup playoff against the All Whites in Wellington next month.

Farm manager Fernando Tipacti, 37, bought tickets for his family of four just seconds after tickets went on sale yesterday.

Tickets for the 1,100-strong Peruvian section of the stadium sold out in less than seven minutes.

Tipacti said he would be driving up to Wellington as flights were too expensive.

He said he was excited about the prospect of seeing Peru at the World Cup.

"It's a big game for us as we haven't been at the World Cup since 1982."

If Peru make it past New Zealand, Tipacti thinks he will head over to Russia next year to support the team.

"I have close friends back in Peru who want to go, so I will probably go," he laughed.

Born in Lima, Tipacti first came to New Zealand eight years ago, and travelled around the country for six months.

To earn money, he wound up working on a farm just outside of Ashburton.

"I had never seen a cow before having grown up in Peru. So I thought I would give it a try and see if I liked it. Eight years later, here I am."

There are around 40 to 50 Peruvians living in Canterbury, and 450 nationwide.