Saints striker Alex Greive's bid to reach the World Cup in Qatar fell agonisingly short at the final hurdle.
Having featured in their warm-up clash against Peru, Greive was in New Zealand's starting line-up for their winner-takes-all battle with Costa Rica last night.
Things got off to the worst possible start for the All Whites at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Qatar as former Arsenal striker Joel Campbell slotted his team in front after just three minutes.
The early opener sparked the All Whites into life and they applied sustained attacking pressure, going on to dominate the rest of the first half.
Greive came close to equalising in the 11th minute after Chris Wood cushioned down a long ball into his path.
The St Mirren forward's volley from just inside the penalty area after a well-timed late run narrowly flashed wide of Keylor Navas’ goal.
Newcastle striker Wood then saw a goal chalked off after a VAR check as New Zealand went even closer to bagging an equaliser.
Former Fulham playmaker Bryan Ruiz was introduced at half-time by Costa Rica and his experience helped his country see out the tie, with the All Whites going down to ten men as Greive's replacement Kosta Barbarouses was sent off for a late lunge.
