'I'm still annoyed': Ryan Nelsen's passion for football undimmed

In 2010 the All Whites made history at the World Cup as the only undefeated side in the tournament.

But, due to the way the results fell, the side didn't get beyond the pool stages — a fact that still irks former defender and captain Ryan Nelsen to this day.

"I'm still annoyed we didn't get out of the group. That we didn't get what we tried to go for. Everybody's like 'you're undefeated, it's really cool' and all that. And I'm like 'yeah, great, I'm still annoyed'," he laughed.

Speaking from the US 16 years on, he said during the 2010 campaign he pushed the team to have a winning frame of mind.

"We kind of had that mindset that we're going in to Italy, the world champions, [saying] 'bring it on' and 'let's go again'. I wish we had Brazil, I wish we had the best."

The 2010 cup was held in Africa for the first time, and marked only the second time New Zealand had qualified for a World Cup.

The South African fans created a never-before-experienced atmosphere as stadiums were filled with the continuous buzz from the plastic horns called vuvuzelas.

But on the pitch, Nelsen said "you don't really hear that kind of stuff when you're playing".

"That's kind of blocked out [as] you're kind of concentrating on the job at hand. Because if you start worrying about a couple of horns in the stand, generally you're going to be in a bit of trouble on the field."

New Zealand arrived at the tournament as the lowest ranked team, but for Nelsen that simply meant working harder to find a way to win.

"We really kind of ring fenced the squad and kept out of all the noise that was going on at the time. And that was what I felt was very negative noise, which is 'hope you do well and enjoy your fun time, and make sure you enjoy the experience'. Just lovely kind of stuff you say when you're on holiday more than when you're at a World Cup.

"I just hated that noise. The noise that I wanted to have in front of the team was: how are we going to win?"

He said there was method to his madness, as he worked out a way to make the best of the Kiwi squad.

"The big question you have to ask yourselves [is] how you're going to get in and get past the group when you don't have 11 players who are good at everything... so you better be elite and very good at something.

"Sometimes a worry of this New Zealand team is that they're seven out of 10 at a lot of things, but what are they nine out of 10 at? You could be five out of 10 at a lot of things, but if you've got a nine out of 10, you can kind of win games on that."

He said during the tournament there were challenges, including a Kiwi training session forced to be abandoned when the pitch was smothered by smoke from nearby charcoal fires.

However — the passion of the New Zealand fans remained undimmed and groups would stay behind in the stands until the players came out to see them.

Once the games started and the team did well "we became the second favorite team of everybody... except Italy. It was crazy. It was super fun".

Nelsen recalled some highlights from the pool games, including their first opponent Slovakia.

"The goal at the end which was incredible because it really set us up, like we kind of stayed in the game to score right in the last minute — there's nothing better."

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but he still held some reservations about the Slovakian goal.

"By the way, that goal they scored was offside."

He remembered the Italian clash as one of the best performances from the side.

"That was probably some of the greatest individual performances I've ever seen by some players in that New Zealand team. They had their best games of their career in that game."

New Zealand shocked the defending champions by scoring first. But Italy equalised in the 28th minute and the game also ended in a one-all draw.

The All Whites needed a win against Paraguay in their final outing.

The stakes were so high he was vomiting before the game but valiently played on.

"We wanted to stay in the game for long as we can, that Paraguay team was phenomenal by the way, they were a really good team."

So the 2010 campaign came to an end, but the All Whites earned undying respect for their history making run that inspired the next generation to play the beautiful game.

"It's the proudest thing," Nelsen said. "Most of this 2026 team, they all say, some of them were five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten or 11 watching with their mum and dad. Getting up and watching it and saying how it inspired them... that's the main thing.

"That's exactly why you play the game."

Watch the All Whites' FIFA World Cup and warmup matches live and free on TVNZ+