New Zealand coach Shane McLeod believes his team has more potential than what their ninth-place finish at the World Cup shows.

By Anshul Baijal

New Zealand coach Shane McLeod was happy that his team beat South Africa to finish ninth in the World Cup, but he was not satisfied with his team's performance. "I am happy that we won the game today, but a ninth place finish is not what we were looking for," he said.

The Kiwis came into this tournament without some of their key players like Simon Child and Hayden Shaw and coach McLeod believes his team missed them in the tournament. "You will always miss such players," said McLeod.

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He added: "Phil Burrows also got injured during the tournament. So we were basically without three of our first team players and it was difficult to fill these gaps."

Black Sticks captain Dean Couzins, meanwhile, preferred to see the positive side. "Some of our youngsters got a chance to play at the highest level. It will be good for New Zealand hockey in the long run," he said.

Couzins admitted that they were forced to try new combinations but unfortunately they did not work out for the Black Sticks. "Ryan Archibald had to play in the forward line. It is not always easy to change your position in middle of a tournament and we paid the price for it," said Couzins.

Meanwhile, South Africa coach Gregg Clark was disappointed after his team lost the game, but was happy with the way his team played. "We showed a lot of fighting spirit and the players showed commitment," he said.