Papua New Guinea are still ruing what could have been after an agonising defeat in the final of football's Oceania Nations Cup.
The home side went unbeaten throughout the tournament in regular time and held the All Whites scoreless through 120 minutes but were beaten 4-2 on penalties, as New Zealand qualified for the lucrative Confederations Cup.
New Zealand and Papua New Guinea could not be separated after normal and extra time. Photo: OFC via Phototek
Kapuls coach Flemming Serritslev believed his side could have won the game and said New Zealand were lucky to finish the game with 11 players.
"We were denied the biggest chance when Raymond Gunemba was almost through and he was axed from behind and for me it was very strange that the New Zealand player didn't get a red card. You cannot never say it would have been a goal or not - I'm just saying it was a very big chance for us because he was totally through when he was axed from behind."
PNG players on edge during the penalty shootout. Photo: OFC via Phototek
Flemming Serritslev said the home side's best chance to win the game was always going to be in normal time.
"From the beginning I was a bit worried if it would go to a penalty shootout because our players are very emotional players and you have to understand that they are not living every day in a professional environment so of course it worried me from the beginning if it goes to a penalty shootout and it showed out that it was correct that we were not able to manage the pressure that was put on us in the penalty shootout."
Papua New Guinea are back in action on Friday in a one-off game against Malaysia in Port Moresby and Flemming Serritslev said he was confident they would be able to source further international matches in the lead-up to next year's third stage of World Cup qualifying.
Sir John Guise Stadium was packed for the OFC Nations Cup final between hosts Papua New Guinea and eventual champions New Zealand. Photo: OFC via Phototek
