The All Whites are another step closer to the World Cup after winning the Oceania qualifying tournament.
Chris Wood scores Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The New Zealanders have beaten the Solomon Islands 5-0 in the final in Qatar.
Mission accomplished as far as coach Danny Hay is concerned.
"We're really proud of the way the players and the coaching team stood by their professional approach, we came her to do a job and we've done that and we're excited now to look forward to June," said Hay.
They started without captain Winston Reid and winger Liberato Cacace who were both on yellow cards.
In a high-tempo game the All Whites managed to control most of the play in the first half and opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with Bill Tuiloma heading home from a corner.
Newcastle striker Chris Wood, who was the main target up front, then headed home a cross in the 39th minute.
Just after the break Joe Bell curled in a corner which the Solomon's keeper failed to take for their third goal.
It was an even more dominant display in the second half with Tuiloma getting his second in the 69th minute, while Wood also had two goals disallowed because of infringements.
Coach Danny Hay brought on the substitutes in the second half and one of those, Matt Garbett, got the fifth just before full-time.
The All Whites will next meet the fourth placed team from CONCACAF (the Confederation of North and Central America and the Caribbean) in the inter-continental play-off in Qatar in June.
That's now been confirmed as Costa Rica.
Hay says the Central Americans will be a bigger challenge than anything they faced in the Oceania qualifiers, but he's confident of his side's chances.
"They've got some world class players and they really started to hit their straps at the back end of their qualifying campaign and so it's going to be extremely tough but the reality is that we think we're in a really good space.
The winner of that one-off game will then play in the World Cup finals in Qatar in November and December.
