Ilisoni Tuinawaivuvu was made to regret his handball in the penalty area when referee Norbert Hauata gave New Zealand a penalty in the 18th minute.

Greg Draper scored, and it proved enough to edge out Fiji, who had competed well throughout against the hosts and favourites at Owen Delany Park in Taupo.

Esava Nageleca, the Fiji captain, hit the bar with a header, before Zibraaz Sahib was similarly frustrated by the woodwork, but there was no way back for the country which had originally been due to host the qualifiers, and who had that right taken away following a legal dispute with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).

"What an up-and-down game," said Neil Emblen, New Zealand's English-born coach who played for Millwall and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

"It wasn't much of a football spectacle to be honest, it was more of an 11-on-11 scrap.

"But it was nice to see the boys step up and match them physically because we thought they might have an edge there.

"We thought we had more quality about us than them but today wasn't a day for quality football.

"We managed to scrap enough and get the result.

"We spoke all week about how if we got Fiji in the final we would need to be wary of their set play.

"They hit the woodwork twice and we rode our luck at times but you take that luck when it comes along."

Vanuatu claimed bronze with a 1-0 win over Papua New Guinea in the third place play-off.

"A penalty is a hard way to lose a game but that happens in football sometimes," said Imdad Ali, the Fiji coach.

"We knew how they would play and were mostly able to contain them so it was unfortunate."

After victory in the third place playoff, Vanuatu coach Richard Iwai commented: "It was good to finish on a high because we have prepared very well for this tournament.

"We could have won by more but it was a long tournament and I think my boys were tired."

New Zealand will now be going to their second successive Olympic Games, and will hope to improve on their group stage exit in Beijing four years ago, where they picked up just a point in a draw against the hosts.

There are just three spots left at London 2012, with two being settled in the next week at the North American qualifiers, and a final spot being determined in April in a play off in Coventry between an as yet unknown Asian team and Senegal.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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