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New Zealand soccer team claims dirty tricks played role in loss to Peru


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The Peruvian men's soccer team clinched the final spot in next year's World Cup by beating New Zealand on Wednesday night, but The New Zealand Herald claimed there was some "psychological warfare" involved.

In the days leading up to the sudden-death qualifying match, the New Zealand team faced repeated travel delays, a military flyover and a 3 a.m. fireworks display near the team hotel on the morning of the match, according to reports by the newspaper. Fans on social media also claimed that Peruvian fans shined laser pointers at New Zealand players, including goalie Stefan Marinovic, during the match.

"They used every trick in the book to try and put us off," New Zealand defender Andrew Durante told The New Zealand Herald after his team's 2-0 loss. "We knew what we were going to be in for, and we knew that they would throw everything at us and they did."

The newspaper reported that three military jets with the words "Vamos Peru" on the underside of their wings flew low over the team's hotel Wednesday morning, several hours after two fireworks displays nearby.

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Jason Pine, a radio broadcaster for the New Zealand team, said the first fireworks display was "prolonged." He posted on Twitter that there was a second round of fireworks fired off near the team hotel an hour later.

New Zealand coach Anthony Hudson told the newspaper that he was not using the disruptions as an excuse for his team's performance, but the experience in Peru had been "poor."

"We didn't sleep at all last night with the fireworks," Hudson told The Herald. "Today I thought I'd grab a quick hour's sleep by the pool and all of a sudden all these jet fighter planes are flying past, and the pilots are taking selfies in the planes with their Peru shirts on."

Meanwhile, the Peruvian government declared Thursday a national holiday after qualifying for its first World Cup since 1982.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad