Danny Hay on key decisions: ‘I think people can make their own minds up’

posted in: Coaching News, News

All Whites head coach Danny Hay says the officiating during New Zealand’s World Cup play-off to Costa Rica was “pretty average and pretty disappointing”.

In his post-match sideline interview, Hay said: “There’s not much I can say about the officiating but people can make their own minds up. I thought it was pretty average and pretty disappointing if I’m being fair.”

However, by the time Hay gathered his thoughts and faced a media conference, he had more to say:

“If I’m being honest. I thought some of the officiating was absolutely atrocious.

“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.”

He said he thought FIFA had made a mistake in appointing Dubai’s Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed as the referee.

Of his side’s performance in the 1-0 loss, Hay said: “I thought the performance was phenomenal.

“Obviously, it was such a disappointing goal to concede and so early on in the game, but outside of that, I thought the response after that was incredible.

“Our players totally dominated the match.

“We just needed a little bit of quality at the right moment and (we) couldn’t quite find it.

“Even with 10 men, we were dominating a team that’s now going to a World Cup.

“I thought we were a miles better team.”

Hay said the manner of the Costa Rican goal was “going to hurt for a long time” but “hopefully that’s going to make this group of players stronger.”

He said supporters could look forward to a promising future with the All Whites.

“The vast majority are going to be around for many years to come.”

And the next focus?

Hay said he and the squad want to show the New Zealand public what they can do when they play Australia in September.

Hay: ‘Some of the officiating wasn’t up to standard’

Source: 1News

More play-off coverage

Click here for our story of the game’s key moments >>>>

Click here for Winston Reid’s post-match reaction >>>>

Click here for Chris Wood’s post-match reaction >>>>

Click here for post-match reactions from Oli Sail and Libby Cacace >>>>

Click here for Kevin Fallon’s post-match reaction >>>>

Match highlights

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