soccerNM.com

Former University of New Mexico star defender Andrew Boyens has spent the last fortnight in South Africa with his native New Zealand squad at the World Cup.

Although he failed to become the first former Lobo to earn a coveted World Cup cap, Boyens was still buoyant about what his country was able to accomplish. This was just the second World Cup appearance for the Kiwis and not much was expected of the group.

But New Zealand opened some eyes by tying each of its opponents in a difficult group. While the three points wasn’t enough to earn a spot in the knockout round, the team gained a certain amount of respect for its play.

“I think playing for your country is the highest honor you can achieve as a sportsperson,” Boyens said in an email shortly before New Zealand’s final match. “And to represent New Zealand at only our second World Cup performance is just awesome.”

Boyens, who is also a defender with the New York Red Bulls, had to balance the commitments to country and club.

“The Red Bulls is the commitment I made and playing for my national team is a result of playing in a good professional environment,” he wrote. “I have missed a lot of games for the Red Bulls over the past two years with the Confederations Cup and now the World Cup which is hard, but it is a good problem to have.”

Spending time in South Africa has been an interesting experience, but he said he hasn’t been able to get out and see much.

“It's been great,” he wrote. “Unfortunately we are kept pretty locked up so we haven't been able to experience the country much at all but we're here to perform and at the moment we are doing that so things are great.”

The team has been staying at resort hotel in South Africa, which where the All Whites spend most of their time.

“There is a golf course on site which we've used a little bit but we spend a lot of our time just relaxing by the pool and watching a lot of the other games,” Boyens wrote.

Perhaps the best part of the World Cup has been surprising the experts.

“We felt like people were underestimating us more than they should have,” he wrote. “We have a quality team and we have proved that so far.”

When New Zealand opened the tournament with a tie against Slovakia, it was the country’s first World Cup point ever.

“It is probably the biggest result in the team’s history so it means a lot,” Boyens wrote. “To get our first point at a World Cup was a massive deal.”

And not surprisingly, the team is being fawned over by the folks back home.

“New Zealand is going crazy,” Boyens wrote. “We are the headline news everywhere and the fans have just embraced the whole team.”

Although Boyens didn’t make any game appearances he’s not about to complain about it.

“It's always difficult to not play,” he admitted. “As a player you always want to be out on the field. Having said that, it is hard to argue about the players who are in there because they are doing an amazing job.”

And that team unity has been one of the strength’s throughout its run.

“Everyone pitches in and gets the job done and we are really all just good mates,” Boyens wrote. “It is a really refreshing environment.”