New Zealand's manager: This is perhaps our best match ever
Darren Bazley called the 2-2 draw with Iran perhaps the best match in New Zealand's history, despite the disappointment of missing out on a historic win.
New Zealand manager Darren Bazley hailed his side's performance after the 2-2 draw with Iran in Group G, despite his team leading twice and ultimately failing to claim their first ever World Cup victory.
"This is perhaps our best match ever. Or at least of those I've been involved in. We performed very well and showed the world who we are, who our players are," he said after the match.
All four teams in the group have one point each, following Belgium's 1-1 draw with Egypt earlier in the day. New Zealand's winless World Cup run extends to seven matches, but Bazley insisted his side did enough to win in Inglewood.
"We came out to win and we were very close to a historic result. We still haven't won a match at a World Cup and today we were very close — and that hurts. In recent years we have been building gradually and I've said before that in every match we have chances. Today that was exactly the case," he added.