Soccer: Socceroos loom over Oceania hopefuls

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Under the shadow of Australia's outstanding 1-0 win over world soccer champions France at the Confederations Cup in South Korea, New Zealand and other World Cup hopefuls are preparing for a showdown of their own.

That the Frank Farina-coached Socceroos await the winner of the Oceania group two play-offs, which kick off at North Harbour Stadium this afternoon, is hardly a consideration for Ken Dugdale and his All Whites or the teams from Vanuatu, Tahiti, Solomon Islands and the Cook Islands. They know that to book a home and away date with an Australian side poised to zoom up the Fifa rankings they must first win here.

Though the island nations won the battle to have the matches played in the afternoon rather than at night, they cannot do anything about the chilly weather, which is testing their sense of humour.

The Vanuatu players, who spent time in Fiji en route to Auckland, wasted no time in calling for extra blankets when they checked into their motel and have barely stopped chattering since.

The arrival of United States-based Simon Elliott and Ryan Nelsen gave Dugdale an almost full strength training turnout on Saturday afternoon.

Today's arrival of South Melbourne striker Vaughan Coveny will give the All Whites their full complement and a couple of days to prepare for their tournament opener against Tahiti on Wednesday.

The All Whites will play their four matches without a bye after having their break today.

The first match, at 12.30 pm, is between Vanuatu and Tahiti while the Solomons and the Cooks meet at 2.45 pm.

The pitch at North Harbour Stadium is in superb condition - a far cry from some of the grounds used in recent times for Oceania tournaments.