Ryan Nelsen's international future is unclear after New Zealand's better than expected showing at the World Cup. The All Whites were ridiculed in some quarters before the tournament for travelling to South Africa with a squad which included part-time and amateur players.
However, ranked 78th in the world, they showed just what could be achieved by sheer determination, carving out creditable draws against Slovakia, Paraguay and, most memorably, defending champions Italy.
Whether the 32-year-old Blackburn captain is still around to help remains to be seen.
"I will reflect (on my future) after this. It has been a great six weeks with these guys," said the centre-back.
"All the guys will have a good reflection after this and see what needs to be done.
"I'm just gutted. The boys gave everything. I suppose if you had said before the tournament New Zealand would be unbeaten in the World Cup we would have taken that but when you come so close it is pretty painful.
"It has been an incredible run - no-one in the world thought we would be unbeaten in the group and finish ahead of Italy.
"It has been an amazing achievement from a bunch of great guys and I think the future is pretty good.
"Some of the guys will be around for another few years so the team is going to be pretty strong for a long time."