Peru overcome New Zealand to reach World Cup finals
Soccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs - National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. Peru's Christian Ramos (15) celebrates near teammates after scoring. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo
LIMA (Reuters) - Peru became the last side to clinch their place at next year's World Cup finals when goals in each half from Jefferson Farfan and Christian Ramos gave them a 2-0 win over New Zealand in the second leg of their inter-confederation playoff on Wednesday.
The teams played out a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Wellington on Saturday but Peru got their noses in front on 27 minutes when Farfan hammered home a fierce rising shot from just inside the penalty area to complete a sweeping counter-attack.
New Zealand brought on Chris Wood at halftime in search of a vital away goal and a series of long balls to the towering Burnley striker managed to put Peru on the back foot in the early stages of the second period.
Soccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs- National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. Peru's Christian Ramos scores under pressure from New Zealand's Chris Wood. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo
However, the Kiwis could not make their temporary control of the contest count and Ramos doubled Peru's lead after 64 minutes when he seized on a loose ball from a corner kick and lashed it into the roof of the net from close range.
The South Americans, who last appeared at the World Cup finals in 1982, are 10th in the latest FIFA rankings and will go into the second group of seeds when the draw is made in Moscow on Dec. 1.
Soccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs - National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. Peru's Raul Ruidiaz and New Zealand Michael Boxall. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo
(Reporting by Andrew Downie; Editing by John O'Brien)
Soccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs - National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. Peru's Jefferson Farfan shoots to score. REUTERS/Fernando SantistevanSoccer Football -Soccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs - National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. Peru's Edison Flores and New Zealand's Clayton Lewis in action. REUTERS/Mariana BazoSoccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs - National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. Peru's Alberto Rodriguez and New Zealand's Ryan Thomas fight for the ball. REUTERS/Mariana BazoSoccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs- National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. Peru's Christian Cueva and New Zealand's Kip Colvey fight for the ball. REUTERS/Mariana BazoSoccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs - National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. Peru's Renato Tapia and New Zeland's Bill Tuiloma fight for the ball. REUTERS/Douglas JuarezSoccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs- National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. Peruvian fans react. REUTERS/Douglas JuarezSoccer Football - Peru v New Zealand - 2018 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs - National Stadium, Lima, Peru - November 15, 2017. New Zealand's head coach Anthony Hudson reacts. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
