Andrew Durante: Peru used 'every trick in the book'

By Michael Burgess in Lima

All Whites defender Andrew Durante says the cauldron faced by the All Whites in Thursday 2-0 loss to Peru, which included lasers being shone at the players from the crowd, was one of the toughest challenges of his career.

Aside from the fearsome home crowd - which provided incredible vocal support for the Peruvians- the New Zealand side also had to deal with the laser pointers, which have marred big football matches in the past.

They can temporarily block players' vision, and in an extreme case cause damage to the eye.

Pictures have emerged of lasers being shone on All Whites midfielder Bill Tuiloma and goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic.

"They used every trick in the book to try and put us off," said Durante about the lasers. "We knew what we were going to be in for and we knew that they would throw everything at us and they did."

"It was also really hard to communicate with each other, trying to scream at the players, it was very difficult with the players. It was a huge challenge. A very good footballing nation, an unbelievable crowd, the support of the nation behind them, it was always going to be a huge task."

But Durante refused to use that - or any of the other issues during the buildup, which have included delayed flights, incompetent bus drivers, firework displays in the early hours of the morning and military jet flyovers - as excuses.

"We had a strong mindset that we wouldn't let any of that affect us," said Durante. "We can't use any of that as a reason. We came with a game plan and we stuck to it for long periods of the game.

"We knew that they would attack us and we rode the storm. But the second goal killed us."

Durante, who has almost certainly played his last game in an All Whites shirt, also admitted that Peru deserved their victory.

"We knew what we were going to be in for, we are disappointed with the result," said Durante.

"We gave it a good crack, had some half chances that if they went in could have changed the game.

I thought we were really good in periods but over the 90 minutes they were the better team."

In a parting comment, Durante also said he hoped Anthony Hudson would stay on as national coach, saying he deserved most of the credit for the positive results over the last two years.