In the spring of 2009, Anthony Hudson was a first-time head coach with a case of walking pneumonia, living in a chilly, one-bedroom apartment with a shared bathroom in the Washington area.

“I couldn’t not go to training,” he recalled recently. “I was quite young. I knew people would start pointing the finger and saying I wasn’t ready. Sometimes you have to put your head down and get on with it.”

Hudson was 28 at the time, marshaling a third-tier club, Real Maryland, with home matches at a high school in Rockville, Maryland. His tenure lasted just two seasons and the organization didn’t survive much longer.

It was, however, a starting point for a fledgling coach, who eight years later is two matches (played across 18 time zones) from the World Cup. Since August 2014, he has been in charge of New Zealand’s national team, which will face favored Peru in a two-leg playoff November 11 and 15 for the final berth in the 32-team tournament next summer in Russia.

If successful, Hudson would become the only U.S.-born coach in a competition that, for the first time since 1986, will not include the U.S. team. Hudson, 36, is British, the son of former English midfielder Alan Hudson (Chelsea, Stoke City, Arsenal). His father joined the European brigade in the North American Soccer League in the late 1970s and, while the family was in Seattle, Anthony was born.

The younger Hudson carries a U.S. passport and, after rising in West Ham’s youth system in London, moved to the United States to play 10 matches over two seasons for the third-flight Wilmington Hammerheads. In 2008, he was a player and assistant coach in the North Carolina port city.

After his two-year tour with Real Maryland, Hudson coached Tottenham Hotspur’s reserves and guided fourth-tier Newport County (Wales) and Bahrain’s under-23 and national squads.

For three-plus years, he has overseen New Zealand, which is seeking its second World Cup berth in the past three cycles.

“I can only dream,” he said in a telephone interview from New Zealand. “I can’t tell you how it feels right now to be in this position where the challenge is so big and the rewards are so high. It’s an amazing opportunity.”

Although Peru has not qualified for the World Cup since 1982, La Blanquirroja (The White and Red) competes in the unforgiving South American region. With a chance to clinch one of the region’s four automatic berths, Peru settled for a 1-1 home draw with Colombia and a fifth-place finish that earned a date with the Oceania champion.

The All Whites, as the New Zealand team is known, almost ended up playing Lionel Messi and Argentina, which needed a final-day victory to seal an automatic slot. “That was the one thing I really wanted to try to avoid,” Hudson said, “but that’s not taking anything away from Peru. They are a serious team.”

New Zealand cruised to the playoff by winning its weak region, defeating Solomon Islands in the two-leg finals on an 8-3 aggregate.

Four years ago, the All Whites were hammered in the intercontinental playoff by Mexico, 9-3, over two matches. (At that time, Oceania faced CONCACAF’s fourth-place finisher.)

This year will provide another stiff challenge.

“They are a very, very strong team, but we know that,” Hudson said of Peru. “We know what they’ve gone through to get to the playoff. We know they are different on every single level. But we also know that our team is improving and we’ve got a chance. We just have to make sure we are at our very best. We do believe we have a chance, definitely.”

New Zealand includes players from Premier League’s West Ham (captain Winston Reid); two prospects from Sunderland in the English second tier; and forward Chris Wood from Burnley in the Premier League. Last season, Wood scored a league-best 27 goals for second-division Leeds United, prompting a $20 million transfer.

New Zealand also employs seven players from MLS clubs or MLS second-tier teams, including Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic and Minnesota United defender Michael Boxall.

Hudson takes pride in incorporating a progressive style of play.

“We’ve always been brave, we’ve always been positive, we’ve never, ever gone away and sat back and defended and tried to sneak a draw,” he said. “It’s been about changing the mentality from being underdogs and having an escape clause or excuse to lose. We understand we’re a small team, but the reality is, if we can get a few things right and believe in ourselves, we can beat the bigger teams.” Related Articles Bassett, Lewis goals lift Colorado Rapids past LA Galaxy 2-0

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The All Whites have not beaten bigger teams but have been competitive: 2-1 defeat to Mexico, 1-1 draw with the United States, 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland, 2-1 defeat to Japan and, at the FIFA Confederations Cup last summer, a 2-0 loss to Russia and a 2-1 setback vs. Mexico before a 4-0 blowout against Portugal.

New Zealand’s best showing on the international stage (two World Cups, three Confederations Cups) came at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa: draws with Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay. The captain was Ryan Nelsen, who launched his pro career with D.C. United before moving to Blackburn Rovers in 2005.

Hudson has caught the eye of the MLS’s Colorado Rapids, who, sources told the Insider two weeks ago, are very interested in hiring him. Hudson declined to comment. His focus, he says, is on Peru. The first leg is Saturday in Wellington, the return match four days later in Lima. Peru is ranked No. 10 by FIFA, while the All Whites are No. 122.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Hudson said. “We’re certainly not defeated in terms of the size of the challenge. We genuinely believe we have a chance.”