All Whites striker Rory Fallon believes it's vital to win the OFC Nations Cup if New Zealand are to have any hope of qualifying for the 2018 Football World Cup in Russia.
New Zealand kick off their tournament against Fiji on Saturday evening (NZT), but Fallon is already looking down the track and hoping to right some wrongs of four years ago.
The winner of the OFC Nations Cup in Papua New Guinea will advance to the FIFA Confederations Cup, a tournament that is contested by the winners of each of the six confederations, along with the World Cup holders and host nation.
The All Whites were knocked out by New Caledonia in the semi-finals of the OFC Nations Cup four years ago, and Fallon said that hurt their build up for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, of which they were bundled out by Mexico 9-3 on aggregate.
"For us to get into a World Cup, we have to get into these Confederation Cups. It's just one of those things we have to do," Fallon told Brendan Telfer on RadioLIVE's Saturday Sport.
"Obviously during the World Cup campaign we had in 2014 we lost out in Honiara and then didn't have any games and then you go straight into playing one of the best teams in the world in Mexico and we got found out.
"We don't want that to happen again, so we need to get into the Confederations Cup so we can play the best teams."
Fallon, speaking on experience of the 2012 OFC Nations Cup in the Solomon Islands, said the tournament is a totally different footballing experience to what the All Whites will be used to.
"From what I remember from the last tournament we were playing at the hottest part of the day, every game was played on one pitch so by the end of the tournament it was deteriorated, the pitch was rock hard, there was a hostile atmosphere and the balls felt kind of different. Everything that you know and you're used to is completely different.
"Obviously we can't use these things as excuses, we're here to do a job, because obviously the Confederations Cup is our bread and butter for New Zealand players."
The All Whites will also face Vanuatu and Solomon Islands in the group stages.
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