Danny Hay during the All Whites' friendly against Peru. Photo / Photosport
Danny Hay during the All Whites' friendly against Peru. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
Whatever happens over the next few years with the All Whites, let's be careful not to rewrite history around Danny Hay's tenure with the team.
Some of the messaging that has come from the New Zealand Football hierarchy – in part of their justification of the decision to goto market and effectively part ways with Hay – has been strange.
The most glaring is the reimagining of the Intercontinental playoff clash with Costa Rica in Doha in June.
Various commentators and fans, who sit in the 'time for change' camp, have spouted their view around the failure to qualify, feeling that the result meant the die was cast for Hay.
They are entitled to their opinion, but the most surprising perspective came from NZF chief executive Andrew Pragnell.
"If you look at Costa Rica's possession percentages and where it is at now, it's a team that a lot of people would say is past its prime, in terms of where it is at," Pragnell told the Herald last week. "I certainly thought we had the ability and talent to get to the World Cup."
It's been a consistent theme since last Wednesday: The implication that the All Whites had squandered a golden opportunity, against a team from a Central American outpost.
Costa Rica still had the bones of the team that had been to the past two Fifa World Cups, including the remarkable quarter-final run in 2014.
They were street-wise, tough and match-hardened, having played 50 (yes, 50) matches in the previous four years.
That included numerous games against teams ranked inside the top 50 and they had beaten Canada and the United States and drawn with Mexico at the Azteca Stadium.
New Zealand had 18 matches in the same period, with two games against top 50 opposition (Ireland and Peru).
The All Whites were rank outsiders at the TAB and with just about every expert, though fans were obviously hopeful. What followed was arguably the best all-round performance by a New Zealand team on such a stage that we have seen.
All Whites striker Chris Wood shoots for goal during the intercontinental playoff against Costa Rica in June. Photo / Photosport
Yes, they lost, but they had a goal chalked off by a highly debatable VAR decision and couldn't have done much more, in terms of creating opportunities.
Yes, they failed to take their chances but that happens to the very best – remember Italy against North Macedonia?
After the early concession – which could have knocked the team completely off their stride – they took the match to Costa Rica, with waves of attack and pressure, while simultaneously restricting Los Ticos' offensive threat.
It was a performance of spirit, heart, skill and endeavour.
That was recognised at the time, with almost everyone in the New Zealand football community impressed at the quality of what they saw.
Even the Costa Rican media were hearty in their praise, admitting privately that while their team had done enough to hang on, the better side hadn't necessarily won.
The move to a single-leg playoff, which was a regrettable decision by Fifa from the start, was seen as a big boost for the Oceania underdogs, but it was probably Costa Rica that was left grateful there wasn't a second match.
It was a display that impressed global critics and will live long in the annals of All Whites history.
So the apparent attempt to change the narrative now about that performance – by downplaying the status of Costa Rica - is disrespectful to the New Zealand players, who mostly rose to the occasion, as well as Hay and the coaching staff, whose exhaustive preparation and analysis helped bridge the massive gulf in experience, combinations, match play, training time and resources.
