Soccer: All Whites to play Bahrain in World Cup play-off

New Zealand will meet Bahrain in a soccer World Cup play-off next month after Bahrain drew 2-2 with Saudi Arabia in Riyadh in an Asian zone qualifier today (NZT).

A 0-0 draw in Manama on Sunday meant today's result was enough to put Bahrain through on away goals, although it took a 94th minute equaliser from Abdullatif to secure the draw at King Fahd International Stadium.

The first leg of the home-and-away play-off series will be in Manama on October 10, with the return match in Wellington on November 14.

In their final international rehearsal before then, the All Whites today beat Jordan 3-1 in a friendly match in Amman.

They had to overcame the double blow of conceding an early goal and incurring a first-half red card before securing the win.

Playing in their black away strip, the All Whites were shaken by an early blow in the opening minutes, when New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen was deemed to have used his arm in a challenge just outside the box.

All Whites goalkeeper Mark Paston misjudged the resulting free kick, an awkward bounce just in front of him skimming through to put Jordan up 1-0 after barely two minutes.

The shaken All Whites took some time to recover, losing a little shape and scrambling to clear the ball as Jordan pressed forward.

Things became a little less disjointed after 15 minutes, when Shane Smeltz slotted home a penalty to level the scores. Ben Sigmund had sent a probing ball into the area, Rory Fallon went high and was brought down by a tug on his jersey.

With plenty of whistle as the game wore on, New Zealand had to show discipline and timing in the tackle, affording the Jordanian midfield more room than would normally be expected.

But it was on attack that the All Whites were harshly punished as halftime neared, when Ivan Vicelich was red-carded for deliberately handling in the area after a corner.

Barely a couple of minutes later, the All Whites eased coach Ricki Herbert's obvious anxieties.

Strikers Fallon and Smeltz had always looked threatening and were rewarded as in the 42nd minute when a well-placed Simon Elliott corner found Fallon, who beat the goalkeeper to the ball and send a looping header into the net. In the second half, with the luxury of being a man up, Jordan were able to control the midfield and push up to keep the All Whites under constant pressure.

Smeltz eased that somewhat in the 65th minute, latching on to a pinpoint Leo Bertos ball into the area and some slack Jordanian defence to turn and slam the ball home.

Although Jordan always looked dangerous from set pieces, the New Zealand defence held strong, backed by a series of good saves from Paston, and they controlled the game's tempo well in the closing stages to secure the win.

- NZPA