Totally agree. That was not a cheap trip. NZ football have very limited funds and to waste them like this.... In most national teams competitors have to prove themselves first, not well, we will take you to the other side of the world, give you a start and see if you can lift your game by 300%. This was a situation where very inexperienced, tame and underdeveloped players were given starting berths. Outcome were predictable. Hello....
For me it demonstrates the massive naivete of the coach, and in NZF for giving him the job.
The problem is, we have to take expensive trips to gain any kind of meaningful game and grow as a team. We don't have the Nations League to compete in (like almost everyone else does) and our ability to get meaningful games in the Islands is limited.
I personally would like to see us target Southeast Asia and the middle East to play friendlies. Somewhere 'in the middle' where players can converge and where we can play teams that, whilst not powerhouses, could still give us a good run for our money.
Either that or join Asia and grow tenfold like Australia did.