An inexperienced All Whites side have stumbled in their opening game of the Intercontinental Cup in India, falling 2-1 to Kenya.
The youthful side dominated for much of the first half in wet and humid conditions at Mumbai, and opened the scoring through teenager Sarpreet Singh shortly before halftime.
But the Kenyans equalised during first-half injury time and then took the lead in the 68th minute, with a goal from Ovella Ochieng.
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Singh's goal was his first for the national team in only his second start. He received a ball from Alex Rufer on the edge of the penalty area and curled a superb shot to the bottom left corner in the 44th minute.
Kenya drew even moments later, when Miheso Cliffton hammered a free kick from the edge of the box and into the top right corner, giving All Whites goalie Max Crocombe no chance.
Even though they controlled possession for long periods, New Zealand could not create scoring opportunities in the draining conditions and were caught out by a Kenya counterattack that left Ochieng one-on-one with Crocombe for the winner.
New All Whites coach Fritz Schmid introduced three new players - defenders Nico Boxall and Justin Gulley, and forward Noah Billingsley - to international football.
For Tom Doyle, in his first outing as captain, the occasion was bittersweet.
"Disappointed not to get the win, but It was a very, very special moment for me," he said. "It's something I wanted to do my whole life and I honestly never thought I'd get the chance.
"It's a very exciting young squad and I think it was a big learning curve for us, and we'll do better next game.
"We're at the start of another [World Cup] cycle and we saw it in the last cycle as well. A lot of young people get the opportunity to come through and show their craft.
"It's a very exciting time and it was awesome to see some guys make their debuts."
New Zealand will try to bounce back from this setback, when they take on Chinese Taipei on June 5.
Chinese Taipei lost 5-0 to hosts India in the tournament opener.
Newshub.
