The Junior All Whites opened their account with a 3-0 win over Fiji at the Oceania under-20 football championship in Tahiti today.
Temperatures soared to 37degC before the match but the New Zealanders remained cool to dispatch Fiji with second-half goals to Costa Barbarouses, Adam McGeorge and Greg Draper.
New Zealand lead the four-team tournament -- which decides Oceania's representatives at the under-20 World Cup in Egypt next year -- ahead of New Caledonia and Tahiti, who drew 0-0.
Despite a goal-less first half, New Zealand coach Stu Jacobs said he was always confident the breakthrough would come.
"The signs were always there in the first half with Barbarouses hitting the post and Draper going one-on-one with the 'keeper, so there was always a good chance we could open them up in after halftime," Jacobs said.
The breakthrough came in the 58th minute when Wellington Phoenix striker Barbarouses latched on to a ball played over the defence and neatly lobbed the advancing goalkeeper from 18m.
McGeorge extended the lead six minutes later when he met Greg Draper's cross with a classy volley, before Draper grabbed one himself three minutes from fulltime with a neat turn inside the penalty area and a top-corner finish.
New Zealand's next match is against Tahiti on Tuesday.
Junior All Whites 3 (Costa Barbarouses, Adam McGeorge, Greg Draper) Fiji 0. Halftime: 0-0.
