The New Zealand national football team will look to create history when they take on Iran in their opening Group G match of the FIFA World Cup in Los Angeles.
The All Whites are making their third FIFA World Cup appearance and are seeking their first-ever win at the tournament.
Coach Darren Bazeley hopes his side can draw inspiration from the 2010 campaign, when New Zealand exited in the group stage but remained unbeaten after drawing with Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay.
However, the All Whites enter the tournament following warm-up losses to Haiti and England and are the lowest-ranked side at the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Iran captain Mehdi Taremi has criticised FIFA over the impact that tensions involving his country have had on the team's preparations for the World Cup.
Taremi says the atmosphere around the tournament has been affected and believes football should be a platform that promotes peace and unity.
He says the Iranian team was forced to relocate its training base to Mexico and that some members of the delegation and travelling supporters experienced visa and travel-related difficulties ahead of the tournament.
Taremi said he has felt the tension since arriving at the World Cup and believes the tournament could have provided a better environment for players and fans.
Despite the off-field distractions, Iran will be looking to make a strong start to their Group G campaign and strengthen their chances of reaching the knockout stages for the first time in the nation's history.
This will be only the third meeting between New Zealand and Iran, and their first in a competitive match. The teams last met in a friendly in Tehran in 2003, with Iran winning 3-0, while their first encounter ended in a 0-0 draw in Auckland in 1973.
Today's clash will also mark the first World Cup meeting between the two nations.
New Zealand will face Iran at 1pm.
Meanwhile, the match between Saudi Arabia is leadingUruguay 1-0 at half time.
In other results, debutants Cape Verde held Spain to a nil-all draw, while Belgium came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Egypt.
Source: stuff.co.nz
