Soccer: Herbert slams critics after shock result

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert with Prime Minister John Key following the World Cup draw against Italy in Nelspruit. Photo / Brett Phibbs

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert went on the attack following the stunning draw with World Cup holders Italy, saying the stunning performance had finally silenced the doubters.

New Zealand's opening draw with Slovakia in Group F was celebrated by many, while others claimed the response should be toned down and put into perspective.

Yes, if the ranking of sporting performances is the name of the game, then it is a very subjective one.

Both sides probably had a fair point.

However the taming of Italy, the World Cup holders, is an entirely different matter, and Herbert demanded that his side finally be given the respect he had always felt they deserved.

Herbert is a low-key interviewee at the best of times - apart from the Bahrain night in Wellington - and was much the same at the official press conference after the match in Nelspruit.

However, his words had a cutting edge.

"We're doing okay for a team that supposedly has some amateurs in it and wasn't good enough and shouldn't be playing in the World Cup," Herbert said.

"We've just played the four times world champions (and drawn) yet a lot of people thought we shouldn't be part of the World Cup...that the way we qualified was easy.

"Well you can go and write your own stories now."

Herbert quite rightly rated the result as the best in the history of New Zealand soccer.

In response to a question about where it stood in New Zealand sporting history, he said: "I'm a football man so I'm biased.

"But this has stopped the nation...this is the most incredible result we've had right across the board.

"In the football code, it is way above anything else we have achieved in the history of the game."

The qualifying match against Bahrain may have stood as the finest or most memorable achievement before this, along with a number of games in the 1982 campaign, and especially the extraordinary qualifying wins over Saudi Arabia and China.

But the unbelievable result in Neslpruit hasn't just eclipsed those, but buried them in a deep shade.

Like many coaches, Herbert did not want to single any player out, but he could not resist heaping praise on his captain Ryan Nelsen.

"He is second to none...extremely inspirational," Herbert said.

Target man Rory Fallon was punished by the Guatemala referee Carlos Batres for battering the Italian defenders in the air, receiving a yellow card in just the 14th minute.

He was nabbed a few more times and Herbert substituted him with Chris Wood in the 63rd minute, to avoid the risk of a second yellow card, and automatic sending off.

"He walked the tightrope...it certainly wasn't around his performance," said Herbert, about the substitution.

"I thought he was harshly done by."

On the team unity, Herbert said: "There are no egos, no issues...this is a unique team. I've never seen anything like this."