Soccer: Smeltz philosophical after glaring penalty miss

Shane Smeltz of the All Whites competes for the ball with Mario Martinez of Honduras. Photo / Getty Images

All Whites soccer striker Shane Smeltz is copping his inexplicable missed penalty on the chin, insisting he will be over it by the time New Zealand run out to face Paraguay in Wellington on Tuesday night.

Smeltz was gifted a chance to seal a rare New Zealand win in last night's international against Honduras in Auckland when local referee Peter O'Leary awarded the hosts a controversial late penalty for obstruction.

Usually deadly from anywhere in front of goal but particularly the penalty spot, Smeltz hit the crossbar, though it was the subsequent rebound attempt that bewildered the crowd of 18,153, Smeltz blazing a shot well over the bar.

It would have given 49th-ranked New Zealand a deserved win in an entertaining match but instead they had to settle for a 1-1 draw against 52nd-ranked Honduras, their fourth successive stalemate after three at the World Cup in June.

"It's just one of those things," said a philosophical Smeltz, scorer of New Zealand's goal in the 1-1 draw with Italy at the World Cup and the A-League's golden boot for the past two seasons.

"I'm more disappointed for the group. We could have won it in the first half quite easily, but to get the chance to win it for the boys in the last minute, I'm obviously disappointed."

It was an unusual penalty in more ways than one.

There was a four-minute delay before it was taken as Honduras vigorously protested the decision.

During that time O'Leary produced two yellow cards and appeared to be manhandled by captain and goalkeeper Noel Valladares and there were issues with the ball being placed on the penalty spot.

"I don't know if I've taken a pen after such a delay like that, With the goalkeeper and players coming out and getting yellow-carded, and there was a little issue with the ball being placed, Smeltz, 29, said.

"But it's part and parcel of it, I still should have scored."

While his miss was the major talking point from the match, Smeltz would quickly put it behind him.

"When you're young you think about it more, but I've missed goals before, it's part of being a striker so I'll get over pretty quickly. I'm glad it was a friendly and there was nothing riding on it."

Without trying to excuse himself, Smeltz acknowledged New Zealand should have won the game before his miss.

They had a plethora of good scoring chances but could only convert one - 18-year-old striker Chris Wood scoring his first goal in his 13th international, a close-range header in first-half stoppage time after some neat work on the right wing by Jeremy Brockie.

Like Wood, Brockie had an industrious match, as did midfielder Simon Elliott, while goalkeeper Mark Paston produced two top saves when finally called upon, though he could do nothing about the equaliser.

Honduras made the wasteful All Whites pay when they enjoyed a rare period of pressure, diminutive striker Walter Martinez out jumping the much taller Winston Reid to equalise in the 64th minute.

"I think we played quite well, we created a helluva lot of opportunities and we probably should have put the game to bed in the first half," Smeltz said.

New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert agreed.

"We very much opened up... we had some great chances and maybe at halftime it could have been 3-0 or 4-0."

Herbert made four substitutions in the final 20 minutes, including giving midfielder Aaron Clapham a debut, the Cantabrian becoming the 50th player used by Herbert during his five-year tenure as coach.

Herbert said there were "one or two bumps and knocks", which would be assessed before selecting a team to start against Paraguay.

Captain Ryan Nelsen, replaced late by Ben Sigmund, had ice applied to an ankle but said it was only precautionary and he was desperate to play in Wellington.

- NZPA