All Whites challenged to step up after World Cup exit

The All Whites' return to football's biggest stage ended with unmet expectations and a challenge from the coach for players to level up before 2030.

The expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams made New Zealand's pathway to showpiece event more straight forward, but for the lowest-ranked team at the tournament in North America there was still a level of expectation that they could and would create history.

Prior to the tournament kicking off, to a man the All Whites were clear about their mission: To secure their first win at the World Cup and get out of the group stage.

Quizzed about why the All Whites' truly believed that knockout football was possible, days before their opening game Marko Stamenic emphatically told RNZ that this was the team that could achieve what the 1982 and 2010 squads had not.

"I have full belief that as a team that we can do it. We've shown our quality and we've shown some results against top, top nations. I know we have all the ingredients to do that and to get out of the knockout stages and I know all the boys have the same belief as I do as well," Stamenic said.

However, when the final whistle blew in their last group game against world no.10 Belgium on Saturday, the All Whites had suffered their heaviest defeat of the tournament and failed to pull off the kind of upset other minnow nations had. They were heading home with two losses and draw after finishing bottom of their group.

The record books will show the results but there will be moments from the tournament that live on in the minds of the players, staff and supporters, including three goals for Eli Just and defender [Finn Surman's third international goal].

The standout moments should not be lost in the disappointment of the final outcome.

For all but two of the squad, captain Chris Wood and unused centre back Tommy Smith, this was the first time the players had been at a World Cup.

Reflecting on the tournament an hour after the final whistle, coach Darren Bazeley believed the players would be better for the experience.

"We don't play competitive games. We obviously go through our qualifiers in Oceania and then we spend the rest of the time playing international friendlies. We can call them Fifa series and try and put points on them for games but you can't replicate this where it's brutal and ruthless.

"For some of our players that are not playing in the Premier League or not playing in the top, top leagues we don't get enough of those moments for the players to feel it, for the players to really live in those moments that we've had at this World Cup, whether it was the Egypt game, the Iran game or [Belgium].

"Most of these guys will be back in four years' time and they will be better for it and they have to be better for it, if we're going to get to where we all want to, which is into those knockout games, we have to be better in moments."

Bazeley was disappointed as he faced the world's media for the last time in North America but he had cause for optimism.

"This is a great group of players that have got a really bright future, both individually at clubs and together... it will hurt and it should hurt because we're at a World Cup and now we're going home so it should hurt. Having to go home and watch the rest of this World Cup on the telly it will be difficult."

The All Whites were still in the mix to get to the knockout stages right until their final group game, not something that could be said for all teams at the tournament but Bazeley said it was not the 5-1 loss to Belgium that killed their chances of moving on.

"Our World Cup exit isn't really [against Belgium].

"It was when we're leading twice against Iran and we're leading against Egypt. They were the points that we needed to qualify out of this group and we didn't do that and we left ourselves a tough task to beat Belgium."

Just had a breakout history-making tournament for the All Whites and his performances on the world stage Bazeley said had to be a "launch pad" for his club career where he is currently signed with Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

"He's one of our players that is able to live at this level. I felt he didn't really give the ball away, he got into little areas and he was able to wriggle out of tight spaces.

"He got turned face forward, he did look bright throughout the [Belgium] game and capped that off with a really nice goal."

Throughout his tenure as All Whites coach Bazeley has been an advocate for the national team players to be playing week to week at the highest levels. Watching them play at the World Cup against nations ranked around 60 places higher had only heightened his desire to get more New Zealanders into the biggest leagues in the world.

"I think the gap is closer but we're still playing against teams full of Premier League, Serie A, La Liga players. For us, we probably need some of our players to follow the similar path.

"We have Chris Wood in the Premier League, apart from that, we've got players playing in good leagues, MLS, Norway, Denmark, Championship.

"We need some of our players to now go to the next level and go and play alongside Woodsey in those levels. That will help us when we come to these games where we're competing against top players."

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