Oly Whites striker Greg Draper has described his winning goal in the final of the OFC Mens Olympic qualifier as the highlight of his career. The 23 year old has been lighting up the Wales Premier League with 23 goals for The New Saints in all competitions, has represented New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics, an U-20 World Cup and an World Cup qualifier but says the coolly taken 17th minute penalty his third goal of the tournament to give New Zealand a 1-0 win over Fiji holds sway over other bright moments. Its the highlight of my life to be honest, said the one cap former All White, scoring the goal to get New Zealand to the Olympics. The striker thought he had made the game more comfortable when he reacted quickest to a deflected free-kick late in the first half but his finish was ruled out for offside. Instead, New Zealand had to fend off a physical and determined Fiji side who hit the woodwork twice in the second half and pushed the Oly Whites to the wire. I thought everyone was tremendous today. We put our bodies on the line and defended like our lives depended on it, for the whole second half to be honest. They came out and hit the crossbar early but we scored one more goal than them and thats all that matters really. We knew they were going to be physical and there were a lot of dodgy tackles flying in. We knew it was going to be like that but we just kept going, kept running for each other and were just buzzing to get the win. An exhausted New Zealand captain Adam McGeorge echoed Drapers thoughts at the final whistle, praising the sides defensive effort. Im absolutely shattered, said the Auckland City midfielder. Its finals football it doesnt have to be pretty. Fiji threw everything at us. They definitely gave us a few wake-up calls but that just showed the resolves of the boys to get the result. Its an unbelievable feeling, absolutely unbelievable. The boys left everything out on the pitch. Were stoked. Words cant explain how we feel. New Zealand become the 13th team to qualify for the 16 nation mens football event at the London Olympics with New Zealand Football hoping to have their selection for the New Zealand Olympic team ratified as early as next week.
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