All Whites battle past Tahiti

The All Whites are through to the final of the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament in Qatar after beating Tahiti 1-nil in their semi-final.

It was a frustrating game for the New Zealanders who dominated for the majority of it but were unable to convert any of their chances until Liberato Cacace pounced onto a loose ball in the Tahiti box in the 70th minute.

New Zealand will play Solomon Islands in Thursday mornings final.

It was a physical battle with seven yellow cards handed out.

New Zealand boss Danny Hay made several changes to the side that faced New Caledonia last time out, with just Matt Garbett and Callum McCowatt remaining from the 11 who started the 7-1 win. Meanwhile.

The plan from the All Whites was obvious from the start, looking to retain possession and stretch the game with their wing-backs Cacace and Niko Kirwan.

Tahiti, meanwhile, were happy to dig deep and defend.

The opening half hour was scrappy, with referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim doing his best to control the game and dishing out yellow cards to both teams.

New Zealand then had the best opportunity of a physically contested first period. Cacace’s exquisite left-foot cross found teammate Garbett unmarked six yards out but the midfielder could only guide his header over the Tahiti crossbar.

The All Whites tested Tahiti goalkeeper Teave Teamotuaitau on several occasions before the break, with Joe Bell and Callum McCowatt both having shots from the edge of the box comfortably gathered by the stopper. The always dangerous Chris Wood then headed a half-chance wide as Tahiti’s defensive rearguard held firm to round out an embattled first-half performance.

The second-half continued in much the same vein. Winston Reid and Bill Tuiloma both had chances from corners stopped on the line early on and Elijah Just and Garbett both placed creative efforts wide for Hay’s men.

Cacace took matters into his own hands, driving inside from left-wing-back to smash home what proved to be the winner after Garbett flicked on substitute Alex Greive’s return pass.

The winner of the tournament then meets the fourth best team from the CONCACAF Federation for a place at the World Cup finals at the end of the year.

The Solomon Islands beat Papua New Guinea 3-2 in their semi-final.

…more to come.