'Some of those calls were really, really rough': Surman questions decisions in All Whites loss
All Whites defender Finn Surman has questioned decisions that went against New Zealand in their World Cup defeat to Egypt.
Surman opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a powerful header from a corner sent in by Tim Payne, but Egypt rallied in the second half to secure their first World Cup victory.
Speaking after the match, Surman was down about the result but questioned some of the referee’s decisions.
“Pretty gutting, pretty disappointed on our behalf,” the defender said.
“I think that we kind of let them into the game a little bit too much.
“After the first goal, we kind of opened up a little bit, and then I think some of those calls were really, really rough against us.
“We shouldn’t be counting on that sort of stuff, but it definitely has an effect on the game and so that’s quite disappointing.
“But I think on our behalf, after such a strong first half performance, it’s pretty disappointing to let the second half go the way it did.”
Finn Surman celebrates his goal against Egypt. Photo / Getty Images
Despite the result, Surman came away feeling positive about the goal he scored.
“Pretty awesome feeling, I can’t really downplay that.
“I think it was an amazing moment for myself and my family and just super disappointed not to carry that out through the rest of the game and win the game.
“Good thing is we’ve got one more game against Belgium to turn this around and go and get a result there, or back here I guess, and push ourselves through to the next stage.”
Coach Darren Bazeley said he was disappointed but was able to see encouraging signs in the first half.
“We were so good in the first half, dominated possession, created a lot of chances,” Bazeley said.
“Came out the second half and I thought we were okay, but we didn’t quite get to the level of the pace of the game.
“Egypt upped the tempo and we couldn’t replicate what we were doing so well in the first half and ultimately that hurt us.
“And then the goals, there’s a few things within the game we’re a bit disappointed with, at certain times felt like we could have had decisions go for us, but ultimately we didn’t.”
The coach was still confident in his side’s chances of making it to the next round.
“We’re still one game away from making history, we know we have to beat Belgium now.”
The All Whites will play Belgium at 3pm NZ time on June 27.
A win would give them the best chance at making it through to the knockouts.
Go all in to unlock every Fifa World Cup 2026 match with a TVNZ+ Event Pass.
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
Get the iHeart App
Get more of the radio, music and podcasts you love with the FREE iHeart app. Scan the QR code to download now.
Download from the app stores
Stream unlimited music, thousands of radio stations and podcasts all in one app. iHeart is easy to use and all FREE
