But not all hope is lost - the Kiwis look a rejuvenated side with the inclusion of midfield starlet Ryan Thomas who shone in all three matches, combined with the firepower of Chris Wood - plus Winston Reid was omitted due to injury.

The Kiwis suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss to hosts Russia in St Petersburg in the opening game of the tournament, where the New Zealand backline was dismantled by Dmitry Poloz and Fedor Smolov, along with young gun Aleksandr Golovin.

Following, was a much tighter 2-1 defeat at the hands of Mexico in a feisty affair in Sochi. Coach Anthony Hudson’s Kiwis struck first through Chris Wood. Raul Jimenez levelled the scores before Oscar Peralta put the game to bed, sealing the game for the CONCACAF champions. The game was marred in the dying minutes by an off the ball scuffle in which players from both sides were fortunate not to be sent to the stands.

The Confederations Cup campaign came to a crashing close with a 4-0 defeat to reigning European champions Portugal in St Petersburg. Cristiano Ronaldo and his men were ruthless in front of goal, scoring almost at will if it weren’t for a top drawer performance from gloveman Stefan Marinovic.

But who were the standout All Whites during the tournament? Here are our player ratings for the starting XI in the Russia game, and then throughout the tournament...

 

Stefan Marinovic

Club: SpVgg Unterhaching (Germany)

A pretty poor start to his campaign against Russia, he gradually got better as the game wore on. Marinovic looked more composed against the Mexicans, getting fingertips to their first goal, but was beaten at his near post for their second. But come the third match, it’s not often you can pick out the goalkeeper on the receiving end of a 4-0 drubbing as a stand out player, but in this case he produced a ripper. Marinovic made the number one jersey his own, and will definitely be in Anthony Hudson’s future plans.

Score: 6.5/10