Kiwi coach blasts officials after exit

DOHA • New Zealand coach Danny Hay criticised those officiating the match after his team's World Cup play-off defeat on Tuesday, saying he was surprised that Fifa appointed a referee from the United Arab Emirates to handle their intercontinental clash against Costa Rica in Doha.

Joel Campbell's third-minute goal was the difference as the Central Americans won 1-0 to take the last World Cup slot for Qatar 2022.

However, the Kiwis felt they were hard done by after a contentious video assistant referee (VAR) decision ruled out a Chris Wood equaliser shortly before half-time and they also ended the game with 10 men following the red card shown to Kosta Barbarouses in the second half.

"If I'm being honest. I thought some of the officiating was absolutely atrocious," Hay said. "The disallowed goal was two players battling for the ball. The foul could have gone to Matt Garbett to start with. Obviously, VAR got involved and overturned that."

A VAR check decided Garbett had wrestled Oscar Duarte to the ground in the build-up to his cross that led to Wood's strike, while Barbarouses' sending-off ruined any chances of a turnaround.

"I haven't looked closely at the other one," Hay said. "Our analyst, who was watching in the stands, wasn't convinced, but we could be proven wrong."

He also rued the decision to appoint Mohammed Abdulla to handle a game of such magnitude, claiming it was too much for the Emirati referee to handle.

"When we looked at what Australia got against Peru last night with good quality European officiating, I thought Fifa made a mistake in such an important game for us," Hay added.

However, he conceded the All Whites needed more competitive football games at a higher level if they are to move to the next level.

This was their fourth successive play-off as winners of the Oceania Confederation qualifiers but the third defeat in a row, following losses to Mexico ahead of the 2014 Finals and Peru for the last World Cup in Russia.

They romped to victories in preliminaries earlier this year but all five of their games were against Pacific Islands minnows, while the Costa Ricans are part of the considerably stronger Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, alongside the likes of already qualified Mexico, the United States and Canada.

"We need meaningful games at a higher level," Hay said. "It's difficult when we're not getting consistent games that actually matter."

Oceania has been guarnteed one slot in the expanded 48-team World Cup in North America in 2026 and, given New Zealand's dominance of the region, they will be odds-on favourites to reach the Finals in four years.

This will be Costa Rica's sixth World Cup appearance and their third in a row should be the swansong for veterans Bryan Ruiz, 36, and Keylor Navas, 35.

In goal was Paris Saint-Germain stopper Navas, while former Fulham midfielder Ruiz also featured off the bench. Both players have a wealth of experience at well over 100 caps each and coach Luis Fernando Suarez felt vindicated after telling them to give international football one last shot.

"I had to persuade them to stay on and play another World Cup and I'm glad I did," he said. "There were many who criticised that but they were an important part of the success of this squad.

"This group is spectacular, I can't describe it. It is a spectacular human group. With these players, it is much easier to do things."

REUTERS