History in the making when Paraguay play NZ

Winning the group will likely set up a match in the last 16 against Denmark or Japan instead of the higher-ranked Netherlands.

Striker Roque Santa Cruz said in La Albirroja “are thinking if we keep performing as well as we expect … and keep working as hard as we are now,anything is possible.”

New Zealand has two points and must beat Paraguay — or get a better result than Italy does against Slovakia in a simultaneous match —- to reach the knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time. At its only previous appearance,in 1982,the All Whites lost their three group matches and were outscored 2-12 on aggregate by Scotland,Soviet Union and Brazil.

This time,78th-ranked New Zealand has stunned many by remaining unbeaten,with 1-1 draws against Slovakia and defending champion Italy.

“It’s the most incredible result we’ve had across the board,” New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert said. “As a football coach,it’s way above anything we’ve achieved in the history of the game.”

Captain Ryan Nelsen said opponents playing New Zealand don’t take anything for granted anymore.

“Probably people underestimated us,and now they’re not,” he said. “Most teams probably thought (playing New Zealand) was a banker for them. Now they know they’ll have to stand up and play well to beat us.”

Earning their first World Cup points made the Kiwis not just proud,but left them longing for even more. “We are always daring to dream,” Herbert said. “At the World Cup anything is possible — we’ve seen some strange results.”

Herbert was expected to stick to the same players and 5-2-3 formation that started against Slovakia and Italy,though he might bring in Tim Brown for the midfielder’s first appearance at the tournament.