Chile scored their second win in forty-eight hours over New Zealand's All Whites on April 27, but they were made to work much harder by the visitors before prevailing 1-0 at the Estadio El Calera. A generally lacklustre game saw the Chileans start the stronger of the two teams, the locals having made eight changes to the starting line-up which eclipsed the All Whites 4-1 two days previously in Rancagua. In contrast, Ricki Herbert gave the bulk of his team the chance to redeem themselves following that disappointing performance, and they emerged from this encounter having produced a display more in keeping with New Zealand's traditions. The fresher-legged locals began well, Jorge Valdivia twice causing problems inside the first ten minutes. It was his fourth minute free-kick which Glen Moss was forced to punch clear, but only as far as Jose Contreras, lurking on the edge of the penalty area. The ball never sat up for the defender, allowing Moss to comfortably save his tamely struck effort. Five minutes later, Valdivia pounced on a loose ball and threaded a pass through for the unmarked Eduardo Rubio, who stole through the middle and wrong-footed Moss as the 'keeper advanced. Fortunately for the All Whites, the legs of their falling custodian foiled Rubio's effort as he looked to stroke the ball home from twelve yards. After the same player had headed over the bar on being picked out by Juan Lorca's tenth minute cross, the game soon became a far less vibrant affair than the teams' earlier encounter, with the visitors guilty of conceding fouls aplenty - four All Whites were booked in the match - and poor distribution. But their earnest defending meant Chile enjoyed far fewer openings to exploit, their twentieth minute effort - a Rodrigo Millar free-kick which curled past the post - sparking off another little flurry of action around the New Zealand goal. Three minutes later, Dagoberto Curimilla's quick free-kick put Rubio in, the striker opting to lay the ball back for Lorca to stroke home. Before he had the chance to do so, however, Noah Hickey swooped to stave off the threat. Two minutes had elapsed when Moss was called into action again, following a cleared corner. Jorge Ormeno played the ball into Millar, who touched the ball into the path of Claudio Munoz. His shot through the crowd was well smothered by New Zealand's goalkeeper. New Zealand enjoyed their first attacking opportunities around the half-hour mark, a couple of Leo Bertos corners the source of their threats. Danny Hay was unable to convert the first opportunity, with the captain linking with Raf de Gregorio to go close on the other occasion, Chile able to clear their lines on both occasions. Eight minutes before the interval, Chile opened the scoring. A Jeremy Christie blunder was pounced on by Valdivia, who picked out Rubio with a well-flighted inch-perfect cross. The talented striker steered home a delightful header, much to the delight of the locals present. Chile came close to doubling their advantage on the stroke of half-time, with Hickey denying Lorca

once again after a dazzling dribble down the right by Valdivia left four All Whites trailing in his wake. The second half was a very pedestrian affair, with Chile struggling to make an impact on proceedings due to the All Whites' defensive strategy. Pushing higher up the pitch restricted the hosts to knocking long balls over the top, which were easily snuffed out by Hay and company. Indeed, the only opportunity in the first twenty minutes of the spell came about through a needless error by Moss - of all things a goalkeeper should know, playing across the face of your own goal is a definite no-no! But play across the face of his own goal towards Hickey some thirty yards away Moss did, only to look on in horror as Lorca swooped on the gift. Incredibly, the striker squandered the opportunity to double Chile's advantage, leaving the yellow-clad goalkeeper to heave a large sigh of relief. After Hay had cleared the danger posed by a low cross into the goalmouth from substitute Manuel Itarra, New Zealand's skipper sparked an opening in the 67th minute which saw substitute Paul Urlovic scampering down the right. His low cross was cleared to Christie, whose twenty-five yarder sailed skywards. Within five minutes, Chile had responded through their own talented replacement, Alexis Sanchez. The twinkle-toed footwork of the Udinese-bound striker saw him evade four Kiwi defenders in as many yards one moment, then trip himself up inside the penalty area the next as he attempted to bemuse another clutch of white-clad opponents. Some neat passing interchanges from the All Whites followed - a lovely right-flank raid orchestrated by Bertos deserved better fate than to break down just outside Chile's penalty area - to which the hosts responded inside the last ten minutes with a couple of long-range efforts which Moss gathered capably, Ormeno and Millar both chancing their arm unsuccessfully from distance. The closest we came to seeing a second goal in the match came seven minutes from time, when the All Whites came desperately close to equalising. Kris Bouckenooghe's cross from the right wasn't cleared, substitute Che Bunce heading the ball across to Tony Lochhead. From twenty-five yards, the fullback unleashed a screamer which careered a foot the wrong side of Miguel Pinto's left-hand upright. A much-improved New Zealand display wasn't rewarded on the scoreboard, however, Chile's 1-0 win confirming their superiority over their injury-hit opponents, who had more time to prepare as a group for this match than for the first fixture, something which definitely contributed towards their better showing this time round. Chile:     Pinto; Jara (Itarra, 46 (booked, 51)), Munoz, Ponce (Zenteno, 58), Contreras; Curimilla, Valdivia, Millar, Ormeno; Rubio (Vindagossy, 70), Lorca (Sanchez, 58) NZ:     Moss; Hickey, Hay (Bunce, 75 (booked, 85), Old, Lochhead (booked, 90); Bertos, Christie (booked, 42) (Fleming, 84), Brown (booked, 20), de Gregorio (Banks, 61), Bouckenooghe; Smeltz (Urlovic, 61) Referee:     Manuel Acosta