New Zealand at full strength for play-off

New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert named a full-strength squad yesterday for the second leg of their Asia/Oceania World Cup play-off match against Bahrain on November 14.

The winner of the match will qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. The squad named yesterday is the same as for the first leg in Manama on October 10, which ended in a 0-0 draw.

Captain Ryan Nelsen was selected after it was confirmed he had not been affected by the H1N1 flu that quarantined three of his Blackburn Rovers club-mates in England.

Plymouth Argyle striker Rory Fallon has also been named in the hope he will recover in time from a calf strain he sustained against Ipswich Town last week.

The majority of the squad have again been drawn from the domestic league and Australian A-League, with the six Wellington Phoenix players appearing on their home ground at Westpac Stadium.

The game has been sold out, with capacity increased to 35,000 with the addition of 500 temporary seats approved by FIFA. New Zealand media reported the additional 500 tickets sold out in four minutes.

More than 17,000 tickets were sold in less than a week after the first leg in Manama.