KEY POINTS:
A ten-man Junior All Whites side were beaten 1-2 by hosts Tahiti last night and now face an uphill battle to qualify for next year's under-20 soccer World Cup in Egypt.
Tahiti leapfrogged New Zealand into second, joining leaders New Caledonia - who dispatched Fiji 3-0 in today's earlier match - on four points.
New Zealand, on three points, must now beat New Caledonia on Thursday afternoon and hope bottom-ranked Fiji can deny Tahiti victory in the final match of the tournament, in order to defend their regional crown and book a ticket to Egypt.
Costa Barbarouses put the Junior All Whites ahead midway through the first half but a red card to Adam McGeorge a minute before halftime put the brakes on New Zealand's momentum and swung it back in the home side's favour.
"It certainly wasn't a nasty challenge, perhaps a bit mistimed," New Zealand coach Stu Jacobs said.
"So there's a question mark over the decision to show a red card.
"We're on the back foot from that point on and you're really asking a lot of the remaining players. I can't fault my players' attitudes against a side that's been together for a year and playing in front of their home crowd.
"From day one everything is set up for Tahiti in this tournament, but we've said that in other situations and come away and won tournaments."
The home side finally made their numerical advantage count when Garry Rochette equalised in the 66th minute, and while a draw would have left New Zealand's destiny largely in their own hands, they were denied a point by Ariihau Teritau's winner a minute before fulltime.
- NZPA
