NEW ZEALAND – ALL WHITES TAKE MORALE BOOSTING WIN OVER JORDAN

The result was all the more encouraging for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa hopefuls as they built upon a 2-1 halftime lead, despite playing the entire second half with ten men after key defender Ivan Vicelich was red carded for a hand ball incident.

And, also this morning, New Zealand’s Asia fifth placed 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa play-off opponents have been confirmed with Bahrain drawing 2-2 with Saudi Arabia at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. This follows a 0-0 draw between the two Asian sides in their first play-off match in Bahrain last Sunday.

New Zealand will now travel to Bahrain’s National Stadium in Manama on 10 October for the first leg before the two teams meet for the all-important return fixture at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium on 14 November.  

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert is taking plentiful encouragement as his focus now shifts entirely to New Zealand’s date with Bahrain at Manama National Stadium.

"They’re a good side, Jordan, and when you look at the World Cup qualification groups that they’ve been in, they’ve certainly been a difficult side for most countries to beat, so we take a lot of positives (from this match)."

"It’s one step forward and we face a few more yet but we look forward to the away leg against Bahrain with some certainty now. To score three goals, two of them with ten men on the park, and get a result like that speaks volumes. There’s a hell of a lot of character in this side and we step forward to the big challenge in a positive way," Herbert said.   

It was the home side who opened scoring through a powerful swerving free kick that deceived New Zealand keeper Mark Paston in the second minute of the match.

But New Zealand striker Shane Smeltz, who has been demonstrating sizzling form with eight goals in five rounds of the A-League so far this season, brought New Zealand level 1-1 with a calmly taken penalty after debutant striker Rory Fallon was brought down in the Jordanian penalty area.

And Fallon then added further lustre to his impressive debut, utilising his height to give the All Whites a 2-1 lead as he leapt above his marker to place a looping header over the Jordanian keeper, less than a minute before the break.

Smeltz added his second shortly after the hour mark with a smart left footed volley to give his team a two goal buffer and despite three Jordanian second half near misses the visitors’ defence held firm to ensure the final score remained 3-1.