WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's hopes of reaching the World Cup finals in Russia next year have suffered a setback after defender Andrew Durante was ruled out of the two-leg playoff against Peru in November due to injury. The 35-year-old suffered a groin adductor injury in Wellington Phoenix's 3-2 loss to Sydney FC in the A-League last Sunday. New Zealand have qualified for the finals just twice before, in 1982 and 2010. They were hammered 9-3 on aggregate by Mexico in a playoff for a place at the 2014 finals in Brazil. NZF Chief Executive Andy Martin said the response was a "great result for football in New Zealand".

Source: The Star October 19, 2017 03:33 UTC