The All Whites will be ruing a horror end to the first half of their friendly against Sweden this morning with three goals in the space of seven minutes leading to a 4-1 loss.
In a rare international fixture against decent European competition, the All Whites started well with an early lead thanks to a Callum McCowatt goal in the eighth minute.
With Chris Wood absent due to injury, McCowatt - the All Whites' best performing in the loss - stepped up to the goal-scoring duties after Matthew Garbett found him with a lofted pass into the penalty area.
McCowatt managed to get outside Swede goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt before finishing in the bottom right of the goal for his first goal as an All White since scoring on debut against the Republic of Ireland in 2019.
But that positive start came crashing down in the space of just seven minutes as Sweden, fielding a young side missing many of its stars, sparked a comeback.
Jesper Karlsson evened the scores in the 39th minute before a counter-attacking play minutes later saw Robin Quaison finish in the bottom-right corner.
Adding salt to the wound, Sweden then added a third goal in added time with Karlsson collecting his second.
All three goals came off the back of the All Whites losing possession in spaces they shouldn't have.
The All Whites had two promising chances in the second half to respond but instead it was Sweden who notched another goal as Anthony Elanga sealed the result two minutes into added time at the end of the match.
The All Whites now turn their attention to Qatar with another friendly this Tuesday in Vienna, Austria.
Sweden 4 (Jesper Karlsson 39’, 45+1’, Robin Quaison 44’, Anthony Elanga 90+2’)
New Zealand 1 (Callum McCowatt 8’).
HT: 3-1
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