When All Whites coach Danny Hay finally gets back to New Zealand to enjoy a much needed Christmas break with his family next month, you wouldn't blame him if he took some time to toast himself, for a job well done in 2021.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Hay and his players finished the year with a solid 2-0 win over African team The Gambia on Wednesday (NZ time), with captain Chris Woods scoring both goals.
The second, in particular, was especially memorable, with Wood finishing off a flowing move, which included a pin-point through-ball from dynamic midfielder Sapreet Singh.
The goal was the perfect way to cap off the year, which finished with three wins on the trot (four if you include the win over Algeria A), and followed the history making effort by the Hay coached under 23 team, in qualifying for the quarterfinals at an Olympic Games for the first time.
That's a decent return from a team which hadn't played for two years.
"I'm really happy with the results over the last couple of [international] windows," said Hay.
"Add to that what the vast majority of these players did at the Olympics as well and its been a pretty good year after such a long hiatus due to Covid."
You could succesfully argue beating the likes of Bahrain, Curacao, and now The Gambia, mightn't be getting too many tongues wagging in the international football world.
But what should be opening eyes is the style of play the All Whites are starting to develop.
With the younger players like Singh, and the Olympians like Joe Bell and Joey Champness starting to find their feet, the signs for the future are promising.
Particularly if experiened players like Wood, Winston Reid, Tommy Smith and Michael Boxall, stay healthy.
"When we're looking and playing forward, it looks fantastic, there's great flowing moments," said goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic.
"There's a real buzz and the lads are starting to play some proper football. There was not as much of that before the Peru games (in 2017). But now in the games I've played and watched, the lads have started to dictate periods of play for good chunks of the game.
"The brand of football we're playing is exciting and gives us huge confidence going towards those games against the (Pacific) Island teams."
That's where attention turns now.
At this stage, those World Cup qualifying matches against the Pacific Island teams will most likely take place in March 2022, leaving an opportunity for the All Whites to play in January.
The Middle East, is once again, the likely location.
"I want us to play against the toughest opposition that we possibly can," Hay said.
"There are quite a few teams that are open to coming to this part of the world and playing games, so we're just keeping an open mind.
"But these sorts of things are quite tricky. You think you've got a team lined up, but until its really nailed down and signed off anything can happen."
Until something's confirmed, Hay will keep an eye on his players, including the contenders that play in the A-League.
But he says if the games go ahead in January, the players he's had in this current squad will have the selection advantage.
With that in mind, Hay's heading to Scandanivia for ten days to watch some of players turn out for their clubs.
Then he's finally back to New Zealand to enjoy Christmas, and that toast.
