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The match at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium pits the fourth- placed
finishers in the CONCACAF qualifying group against the top team
in the Oceania confederation and the winners will play in Group
E at the finals in Qatar along with Germany, Japan and Spain.
Costa Rica, looking to qualify for a third successive World Cup,
reached the quarter-finals in Brazil eight years ago and having
had substantially more competitive matches over the last four
years will be favourites to advance.
Since the last World Cup, they have played 30 competitive games
compared with five for New Zealand which have all been against
low-ranked Pacific island nations.
"Costa Rica have played a lot together and have a lot of caps,"
said New Zealand coach Danny Hay, whose side played Peru and
Oman in warm-up matches over the last week.
"We don’t really get enough opportunity to test ourselves
against top quality opposition."
Hay admitted the behind closed doors draw with Oman on Friday
was not the greatest performance by his team.
"But that said, I think everybody's got half an eye, if not a
full eye, if not two eyes on Costa Rica,” he added.
Costa Rica defender Francisco Calvo warned his side will need to
be wary of complacency.
"We have to be focused for the 90 minutes, because they shoot
from wherever they can. We’ll have to defend to the death and
keep Chris Wood under control," he told reporters in Doha.
Newcastle United striker Wood is the Kiwis’ key attacker.
"A good team builds on defensive strength, and usually the
champion teams are the ones that concede the fewest goals. If we
keep a clean sheet, I'm convinced that we'll score a goal and
qualify for the World Cup," added Calvo.
New Zealand, who competed at the 1982 and 2010 World Cups and
lost out in playoffs for the two last tournaments, have concerns
over the fitness of captain Winston Reid but Hay said he
expected the former West Ham United central defender to play.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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