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Peru Dash All Whites' World Cup Dreams
by Jeremy Ruane
Peru claimed the 32nd and last qualifying place available at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals in Russia on November 15, seeing off the All Whites 2-0 in front of a capacity 40,000-strong crowd at the Estadio National in Lima to reach the world's greatest sporting event for the first time since 1982.
Things could have been a great deal different, however, had French referee Clement Turpin had the courage of his convictions and called a penalty just twelve seconds into the contest, when the charging figure of Costa Barbarouses was hauled back in the penalty area by Christian Ramos.
A New Zealand goal at that stage of proceedings would have stunned the natives, and rendered worthless all Peru's pre-match gamesmanship - fireworks at 3am on matchday, Air Force fly-pasts at dawn, diversions, buses too big to enter stadiums … all the tricks of the trade for which South American football is long noted, and that's before thoughts turned towards kicking a ball in anger!
In fairness, Peru were well worth their win, as, save for that initial scare, they dominated proceedings, a tactical change from the first leg encounter enabling them to get in behind the All Whites' wing-backs and get crosses into the danger zone on a regular basis.
Just three minutes into the contest, their first raid of note set the tone. Christian Cueva made in-roads down the left before the ball was swiftly switched to the right flank, where fullback Luis Advincula latched onto the sphere, lurched infield then lashed a twenty-five yard screamer which flew past the diving figure of Stefan Marinovic and crashed against the crossbar by his near post.
Marinovic was the rock upon which many a Peruvian raid foundered in this match, his handling of crosses, both above and below waist height, a source of frustration to the locals.
In the eleventh minute, he smothered a Raul Ruidiaz effort after Advincula had loomed up on the right and got the better of Deklan Wynne before delivering quality. Three minutes later, Advincula switched play to fellow fullback Miguel Trauco, whose low cross towards the near post was turned round the upright by Marinovic.
The All Whites, playing in their black kit, bore the brunt of this attacking onslaught unflinchingly, although they dodged a bullet in the 24th minute when a driven low cross from Trauco ricocheted off Andrew Durante and struck the hands of Winston Reid.
Peruvians on-field and off it howled for a penalty, with a couple of players pursuing referee Turpin to vigorously argue their case. The official wasn't interested, however, and the incident was swiftly forgotten about, as in the 27th minute, Peru broke the deadlock.
Trauco pinged a pass down the left for Cueva, who got the better of Reid and the retreating figure of Durante before steering a pass into the stride of the fast-arriving figure of Jefferson Farfan.
He had slipped his marker on this counter-attack and made maximum use of the space this availed him, smashing an unstoppable shot over the approaching figure of Marinovic and into the roof of the net to the accompanying sound of an explosion of unbridled joy from an entire nation.
The goal meant the All Whites now had to score, but they went into this match having to do so anyway, as they only needed a score draw to progress on the away goals rule. But any attacking initiatives they mounted were swiftly halted by the cynical side of the South American game, those niggling fouls in which they seem to specialise but which are highly effective when it comes to spoiling an opponent's momentum.
The daft thing is, more often than not, they're totally unnecessary. They certainly were in this match, Peru being far superior to New Zealand technically. But they continued to indulge in this penchant for skulduggery over skill …
When they employed the latter approach, they proved far more attractive to watch, and brought out the best in their opponents. Such as in the 41st minute, when Marinovic made a quite outstanding triple-save which kept the All Whites in the match.
Trauco chanced his arm from distance with a missile which bounced in front of the diving goalkeeper, forcing Marinovic to parry the ball. Farfan was onto the sphere in an instant, and looked to deftly flick it over the prone 'keeper.
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But Marinovic produced a reflex save to prevent the ball going over him, before catching the dropping sphere to frustrate Ruidiaz, as he looked to capitalise on the opportunity. Terrific goalkeeping.
Right on half-time, the All Whites enjoyed their best chance of the half when Reid headed narrowly over the bar from Clayton Lewis' corner. How they could have done with the attacking presence of Chris Wood from the outset in this contest, rather than at the start of the second spell, when they were chasing the game.
The Peruvians genuinely fear the All Whites' front-runner, whose physical presence and goalscoring prowess makes a huge difference to the New Zealand attack - without him, it does look a tad blunt, and when you're playing for a place in the World Cup Finals … an All Whites line-up sans Wood is akin to contesting a gunfight with no bullets in your pistol!
Within five minutes of his introduction at the start of the second half, he'd made his presence known. Kip Colvey evaded a couple of challenges on the right before picking out the striker with a cross. One thumping header later, and the hitherto unoccupied figure of Pedro Gallese was responding with a parried save.
On the hour, Ryan Thomas curled in a free-kick from wide on the left. Wood drew plenty of defensive attention, allowing Reid to steal a march on his marker, only to guide his glancing header just past the post.
Four minutes later, Reid was central to another set-piece opportunity, this time at the other end of the park. Trauco's corner struck the All Whites captain and ricocheted towards the target, forcing Marinovic to plunge to his left and make a vital save.
It was for nought, however, as sixty seconds later, Peru made good their passage to Russia with the decisive second goal. Cueva's corner to the far post wasn't cleared, and sat up perfectly for Ramos to ram home into the roof of the net from eight yards, sparking wild celebrations which continued long after the final whistle.
At 2-0 to the good, Peru were as good as home and dry, and they made certain of their progress by indulging in some unnecessary gamesmanship which succeeded in their objective of foiling any hopes the All Whites harboured of getting back into the contest.
The visitors kept plugging away, however, even resorting to the most desperate of measures by throwing Jeremy Brockie into the mix late in the piece. With a solitary goal in his previous 49 internationals, he was hardly likely to bag a brace in his fiftieth "A" game. He did manage to execute the perfect air-shot from a Wood knockdown, however … plus ca change!
To their credit, Anthony Hudson's charges didn't let up in their quest to alter the scoreboard, with Barbarouses pouncing on a stray pass in stoppage time before picking out Wood, charging through the middle. Gallese raced off his line and blocked at the striker's feet, the ball rebounding off Wood and past the post of the untended target.
Peru didn't care by now, of course, and when the final whistle sounded seconds later, they didn't have a care in the world, a feeling only made possible by qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Finals, in their case some thirty-five years after last participating in them.
For the All Whites, it was the end of their Russian dream, one which, in hindsight, really needed to see them score a goal in the Wellington leg of this FIFA World Cup intercontinental play-off to have a genuine shot at glory and the $US 10m worth of prize money which comes with qualification.
Nonetheless, for a team ranked 122nd in the world, they acquitted themselves quite well against the world's tenth-ranked footballing nation at the end of a World Cup campaign which has unearthed a number of promising All Whites who will boast so much more experience come the time to qualify for Qatar 2022 rolls around.
Peru: Gallese (booked, 80); Advincula, Ramos (booked, 75), Rodriguez, Trauco; Polo (Carrillo, 73), Tapia, Flores (booked, 21), Cueva (Zela, 85); Ruidiaz (Yotun, 66), Farfan
All Whites: Marinovic; Durante (Brockie, 77), Reid, Boxall; Colvey, McGlinchey, Tuiloma (Wood, 46), Lewis (Rojas, 58), Wynne; Barbarouses, Thomas (booked, 19)
Referee: Clement Turpin (France)
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