After being brought on as a substitute, Old appeared to be clipped by his marker Ibrahim as he scampered down the wing in the 67th minute.<\/p>\n
But as he lay prone on the ground \u2013 before the same player stood on his testicles \u2013 the referee waved play on, with the New Zealand team expecting a free kick.<\/p>\n
They were caught out and Egypt sprinted upfield, with Mo Salah providing a supreme finish seconds later.<\/p>\n
Despite long protestations \u2013 particularly from captain Chris Wood \u2013 there was no review of the incident and the goal stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, this is football, we\u2019ve all got our opinions, but I was clearly fouled and then everything that happened after that,\u201d Old said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it\u2019s frustrating because that led to the goal afterwards. But these things happen in football.\u201d<\/p>\n
The moment was exacerbated by what came next, with the painful episode.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve touched the ball and then I feel like he\u2019s fouled me, and then as I\u2019m going to fall down, he\u2019s fallen down on my ball sack and ripped my shorts and underwear, so I\u2019m just there standing like that,\u201d Old said.<\/p>\n
\u201dObviously, it was quite painful, and then had to change the shorts and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
After being checked by the doctor, Old was then delayed from getting back on the field for a few minutes, as staff scrambled to find a new pair of shorts.<\/p>\n
Ben Old claims he was fouled by Yasser Ibrahim of Egypt in Vancouver. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201c[They were] ripped and had a bit of blood and stuff on there so had to change that and took obviously a lot longer than we wanted to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Old explained that he was trying to win a free kick \u2013 knowing New Zealand\u2019s strength at set pieces \u2013 before ending up on the ground in pain and confusion.<\/p>\n
Wood was also unequivocal about the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw Ben Old with the ball and him get taken out by the back of his legs, that was my opinion on the pitch. It was one of those you have to state your case.\u201d<\/p>\n
The feeling of what might have been amplified by their first-half performance, one of the best 45-minute periods in New Zealand football history. <\/p>\n
But they couldn\u2019t maintain it \u2013 as Egypt stepped up \u2013 while coach Darren Bazeley\u2019s failure to go to his bench earlier will also be examined.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball is a 90-minute game and even though we dominated that first half, they came out, changed a few things, and dominated us in the second half so it is disappointing,\u201d Old said.<\/p>\n
He said the mood had been upbeat at halftime, as New Zealand held a shock lead after Finn Surman\u2019s 15th-minute goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a game plan of staying compact and hitting them on the counter,\u201d Old said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t change anything going into that second half so we\u2019re going to have to look back at what happened there, but still a lot of positives from this game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Old pointed out that New Zealand\u2019s dream of progressing remains alive, though they will need a miracle against world No 8 Belgium on Saturday (NZT).<\/p>\n
\u201dWe\u2019re just going to take what we learned from this and move on,\u201d Old said. \u201cThere are still a lot of positives from this game.\u201d<\/p>\n