Soccer; How Shane shot to fame

When Shane Smeltz lined up to face Wales in 2007, the opposition scouting report on him must have been pretty thin.

"German-born, Australian-raised striker playing in the English lower leagues with Halifax Town. Not much to worry about," it might have said.

A brace of goals in that 2-2 draw changed that sort of thinking and now Smeltz will be filling out a much more extensive file.

It might not scare the likes of world champions Italy nor No 1-ranked Spain, both of whom the All Whites will meet in the coming days but, without the injured Ryan Nelsen, Smeltz is the only genuine "star" in the New Zealand side.

He has been New Zealand Football (2007), Oceania (2007) and Wellington Phoenix (2007-08) Player of the Year and last season picked up the prestigious Johnny Warren Medal as the A-League Player of the Year as well as the Golden Boot.

"We look at teams closely and put a lot of information together on opposition players," Smeltz says from South Africa ahead of this morning's friendly against Botswana.

"If other teams do that as well then they might look at my goal-scoring record and there might be a little focus on me."

There ought to be. His goal against Tanzania on Thursday morning was his 11th international goal in his past nine matches and 14th since he made his debut in 2002.

He also amassed 21 goals in 39 A-League matches, an impressive number when you consider Wellington finished eighth and sixth in the eight-team league.

It's why Gold Coast United opened the chequebook to lure the 27-year-old across the Tasman for the club's inaugural A-League season in 2009-10.

If the All Whites are going to make a statement at the Confederations Cup, and the World Cup playoff later in the year, they need to score goals.

It's rarely been a strength of New Zealand football, who often tried to blunt oppositions and nick something at the other end, but it is where their best players reside. They have scored 18 goals in nine games since the draw with Wales, admittedly against some poor opposition, with Smeltz netting half of them.

Smeltz will be partnered up front by Chris Killen, who has struggled to make an impact in his two seasons with Celtic but can point to 15 goals in 28 internationals.

The pair haven't played together for some time but were partnered up front in national age group teams and know each other's games well.

Supporting those two is 17-year-old Chris Wood, who has already made his Premiership debut with relegated West Bromwich Albion, Jarrod Smith and the streaky Jeremy Brockie.

"I feel confident," Smeltz says. "It's a goal of mine to keep my form from the past couple of years at a good standard and I don't see any reason why I can't do that.

"We might only get one chance against the good teams like Italy and Spain but if we can put that away then hopefully we might be able to get something from the game. It's such a buzz to play these teams and we can't wait for them to come along.

"It's hard to know what will be realistic [at the Confederations Cup]. We are definitely the underdogs and will be playing some quality sides.

"No one expects us to beat Spain, or even draw with them, but we will give it a go. It's in the other games we feel we are more of a chance.

"South Africa will be tough at home and Iraq will look to reproduce their Asian Cup form but they are teams we feel we can match if we play well."

If they do, Smeltz is sure to be at the forefront, adding to his ever-increasing CV.