Soccer: Killen relishes his new striking role

For the first decade of his All Whites career, Chris Killen often felt like the Lone Ranger.

He didn't wear a mask or ride a horse, but often toiled away on his own up front, living off scraps and trying to make something out of not much.

Now he's part of a three-pronged attacking line-up along with Rory Fallon and Shane Smeltz that has been employed since the first play-off match with Bahrain last November.

It is playing to New Zealand's strength up front. They have good depth, by New Zealand standards, with Chris Wood and Jeremy Brockie itching to make an impact off the bench.

"It's brilliant," Killen said. "I talked to Rory last week about his role that he's playing. I have been doing that for the last 10 years on my own, taking the hits.

"It's quite nice for someone else to be doing it for me now. The three up front that we are looking to play has been quite successful. It's been hard work for the boys who sit in behind but, hopefully, it will work for us."

So far it has. It is the best option they have.

New Zealand are not skilful enough to pass their way through teams. They will try to maintain possession for as long as they can, but they will also add in a dash of direct football.

They could put 10 players behind the ball and hope to frustrate sides in their three pool games, but this would mean they were unlikely to create anything themselves. This All Whites side want to prove they deserve to be at the World Cup - they are hopeful of causing an upset and won't do that by being too negative.

With Fallon's height and physicality, Killen's directness and Smeltz's finishing prowess, there is confidence that they can score goals.

They troubled Australia before going down 2-1, stunned Serbia 1-0, created plenty in a 3-1 defeat of Slovenia and should have scored in a 2-0 defeat to Chile.

If there is one criticism, it's that the strikers are creating chances but not always converting them.

It's something coach Ricki Herbert wants to improve. He wants them to be more clinical, because they may not get many chances at a Word Cup.

"We've created a lot of good chances on this tour so far," he said. "If we can put another couple away, we will be fine." Their best chance may come against Slovakia tomorrow. There is an expectation they will play a similar style to Serbia and Slovenia, the two teams the All Whites created the most against in their warm-up games, and a result of some description will be difficult but is not out of the question.

"The first game is massively important for us," said Killen, "and we need to get something out of it if we are any chance to try to get through this group."