Soccer: Victory in the heat of battle

Tommy Smith goes up against Fiji's Osea Vakatalesau yesterday. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It was not only the players but All Whites coach Ricki Herbert who was looking for an ice bath after his side's World Cup opener in the Solomon Islands today - if only to cool his nerves after a tense win over Fiji.

If the All Whites thought the World Cup qualifiers were going to be straightforward, a strong Fiji side and oppressive conditions soon jolted them out of that. It was tough, it was physical and it was draining and in the end they can count themselves lucky they won.

They are patently aware of how difficult this tournament is going to be, physically more than anything, with five games in nine days and the sort of heat and humidity that would even cause Winston Peters to break a sweat.

"It was tough, really tough," a visibly distressed Ben Sigmund said afterwards. "I haven't played in conditions as hard as these before. It was zapping, draining. It was hard to get out of first gear."

At times New Zealand played like that. Tommy Smith scored early, his first international goal and in his first competitive match as captain, which was both a blessing and a curse.

It took some of the pressure off but it also forced Fiji to chase the game and they took it to a New Zealand side hoping to escape with little collateral damage.

Fiji were the better side in the second half and put a New Zealand side, tiring badly, under considerable pressure. They survived through a combination of luck and good defending.

"When we went to the World Cup we always thought Slovakia would be a chance [for us] first up so I think we were always going to be a bit vulnerable," Herbert said. "We were average, really, but got away with it."

They should find it easier in their second game on Monday against a Papua New Guinea side beaten 1-0 by a quick and skilful Solomon Islands in the late game last night. PNG coach Frank Farina, the former Australian boss, has them well organised and Fiji demonstrated to the rest of the sides at the eight-team tournament that New Zealand can be pushed.

"We played much better than I expected because our preparation time was very small," Fiji coach Carlos Buzzetti said.

"I thought we would struggle in the second half but we threw everything at them and were very unlucky not to at least get a draw. We had more control of the game and forced them into mistakes. We just can't score.

"If we play like we did today, the other teams will have to play to a high level to stop us."

New Zealand will be still favoured to win the tournament and Herbert got a good shift today out of Chris Killen who played the unfamiliar holding midfield role.

Together with Michael McGlinchey, they were among New Zealand's best and the defence also kept a clean sheet despite the pressure they came under.

Marco Rojas, who had looked so good in the last two games, was dominated physically before being replaced early in the second half by Chris Wood, who offered more physical presence. Rory Fallon also came on late for the same reason.

Smith was strong throughout and it's doubtful he will score an easier goal. Leo Bertos fired in a free-kick which landed in front of goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau - better known in New Zealand for being denied entry into the country in 2007 because of his links to the military. He spilled the ball directly at Smith's feet.

Rojas and Shane Smeltz both had good chances to make the game more comfortable but sprayed the ball off target.

Fiji pressed throughout with their counter-attacking game and Mark Paston made a couple of fine saves before he went off early in the second spell with a head knock.

The players quickly escaped back to their hotel afterwards for their ice baths but they need to make sure they fire up more on the park.

New Zealand 1 (Tommy Smith 9) Fiji 0. Halftime: 1-0.