Wellington: Oceania champions New Zealand held Peru to a 0-0 draw Saturday in the first leg of their intercontinental World Cup playoff that will decide the final qualifier for Russia next year.
The teams will head to Lima next week for the second leg with the South Americans hoping to return to the World Cup for the first time in 36 years and New Zealand looking to make just its third appearance at the finals.
Peru, which finished fifth in the South American qualifying tournament and is currently ranked 10th in the world, was heavily favoured to beat New Zealand, but struggled in the absence of star striker and captain, Paolo Guerrero, who was suspended after failing a doping test.
New Zealand, ranked 122nd in the world, also suffered a setback before kickoff when key striker Chris Wood was forced out of the starting line-up because of a lingering hamstring injury, but steadily grew in confidence as the match progressed and brought on the Burnley forward as a second half substitute as they pressed for a late goal.
Peru dominated the early exchanges against a nervous New Zealand team, retaining possession for long periods and playing at pace and with precision, but was thwarted by the home team’s staunch defense, led by the captain Winston Reid.
Peru came close to scoring in the seventh minute after a mix-up by the New Zealand defence saw a deflection trickle back toward the net before goalkeeper Stefan Marinkovic cleared it off the line just in time.
Marinkovic also pulled off two notable saves in the second half, palming a header from Aldo Corzo over the bar in the 63rd minute and stopping a low shot from Yordy Reina a minute later.
But New Zealand also created some chances of their own to put the visitors under pressure. Kosta Barbarouses, left alone up front in the initial absence of Wood, flashed across goal in the 33rd minute after getting in behind the Peru defence.
Wood, who was introduced after 73 minutes, had a sniff of a chance in the 83rd minute and Barbarouses shot just wide seconds later.
Ryan Thomas then blasted a powerful shot past the post in the 85th minute with the goalkeeper off his line, before Pedro Aquino had one of Peru’s best chances in the 88th minute but missed the target after Markinkovic had been knocked down.
Peru has qualified for the World Cup on four previous occasions, reaching the quarter finals in 1970, but has not made it back to the sport’s marquee tournament since 1982.
They edged out Chile on goal difference to finish fifth in the South American qualifiers and book a place in the intercontinental playoffs against the Oceania winners, who are not guaranteed direct entry.
