Honeymoon on hold as Kiwis eye history

Chris Killen put his honeymoon on hold in order to play in the World Cup and the New Zealand striker is planning on keeping his new bride waiting as long as he possibly can.

With New Zealand having reached the finals for the first time since 1982, Middlesbrough forward Killen is determined to make the most of the experience, starting with the Group F encounter with Slovakia today.

"It's got to be one of the biggest games in the history of New Zealand football," Killen said.

"The first game in any tournament is always hugely important and that's particularly true here. We know Slovakia are a good side but so are Italy and Paraguay. We need to get something out of this."

Kiwi hopes of making a mark on the tournament have been raised by an unexpected 1-0 win over highly-rated Serbia in a warm-up friendly in Austria earlier this month.

Killen missed that match in order to fly to Scotland, where he married girlfriend Hannah.

Slovakia are making their first finals appearance since their 'velvet divorce' from their Czech neighbours. They had an impressive qualifying campaign in which their 22-year-old captain, Marek Hamsik, was the standout player.

The New Zealanders will also be wary of striker Stanislav Sestak and Miroslav Stoch, a tricky winger who spent four years on Chelsea's books.

Stoch, 20, enters the tournament on the back of a fine season on loan at FC Twente.

Slovakia's best known player, Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel, is set to play after recovering from a minor ankle injury he suffered last week, although there is a question mark over the match fitness of the centre-back, who missed the last three months of the English season with a broken foot bone.

Key To Match

Simon Elliott vs Marek Hamsik.

Marek Hamsik is the man who makes Slovakia tick and, at 22, is being tipped as a possible star of this tournament.

In the likely absence of New Zealand's vice-captain Tim Brown, primary responsibility for stopping Hamsik will fall to Simon Elliott. He will hope to make all his experience count but 90 minutes chasing Hamsik at an altitude of 1,500m could make him feel every one of his 36 years.