Wellington: New Zealand football fans lamented the end of their World Cup dream on Thursday after a 2-0 defeat to Peru, but said the unfancied All Whites’ gritty display had done the nation proud.
New Zealand, rated 122 in the world, went into the two-legged qualifier as rank outsiders against 10th-placed Peru.
But a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Wellington inspired hopes that they could steal an away goal in the return leg in Lima to earn a spot at the finals in Russia next year.
Kiwi fans’ nerves were stretched for much of the match as Peru launched wave after wave of attack, intent on achieving their own dream of reaching the World Cup for the first time in 36 years.
Diehard All Whites supporter Marcus Ebert said New Zealand still did enough to rattle their illustrious opponents and deserved respect for their efforts.
“I’m pretty gutted, but we went in with no expectations. Losing 2-0 over two legs to the No. 10 ranked team in the world is nothing to be embarrassed about,” he said.
“It actually makes it even worse. If we got thrashed I could deal with that, but we came so close and I’m so proud of the boys.”
Fellow football enthusiast Chris Scarrott said watching the match was a frustrating experience because New Zealand created goalscoring opportunities but, unlike Peru, could not make them count.
“We had our chances. They took theirs and we didn’t — that’s life,” he said.
“It didn’t look like that was a difference of 112 places at all, nothing like that. We accounted for ourselves really well.”
Supporters cheered the All Whites as the full-time whistle went but the mood was subdued, except for a knot of Peru fans singing and dancing.
