Former All White Tim Brown says he’s ‘quite positive’ about the direction football is going in New Zealand.
Now based in the United States where he heads up his NASDAQ-listed Allbirds footwear company, Brown feels New Zealand are getting close to being able to qualify consistently for the FIFA World Cup.
Main photo: Tim Brown … a member of the All Whites squad to qualify in 2010. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.
“We’re pretty close,” Brown told SENZ Breakfast.
The 30-cap All White, who was part of the squad that qualified for the 2010 finals, said: “I actually feel quite positive about it.
“I mean, when we went in 2010 it had been 28 years since we’d been and now, partly favoured by the draw but also just by the rising young talent; more Kiwis than ever playing overseas, you’ve got people performing in the Premier League week on week.
“Could it be better (and) would you love to be there? There’s a hell of a lot of nations around the world that are not at the World Cup … and I’d actually like to think the game’s come a hell of a long way.
“I don’t know if you watched that game against Costa Rica but my god they were infinitely better than we (former All Whites) were technically and as a team.
“So I don’t know, I tend to be much more on the sense that the game’s come a long way.”