Adshead was as thrilled as anyone by the opening 1-1 draw against Slovakia yesterday, the match sparking recollections of the 1982 tournament in Spain where he oversaw three heavy losses in New Zealand's only other World Cup foray.
However, he put his pragmatic coaching hat back on in assessing where the All Whites must improve if they are to threaten group heavyweights Italy and Paraguay and stun the footballing world by qualifying for the second round.
Adshead said it was hard to know how current coach Ricki Herbert could improve the obvious weakness in the current side -- the midfield.
"What we do lack, and it's been obvious for some time, is that we lack creativity there," Adshead told NZPA.
"Simon Elliot does his best in there but the more difficult the opposition get, the tougher we find it to be a true link between the defensive third of the field and the attacking third. And that's the vital part of international football.
"We lack that at the moment and it showed against Slovakia. We don't get a lot of quality ball into the three front strikers, and all of those players can score goals."
It was actually a defender who snared the late equaliser in Rustenburg, with 21-year-old Winston Reid rising high in injury time.
However, even Reid couldn't escape some sharp analysis from Adshead, who said the youngster had played well overall but should squarely shoulder the blame for Slovakia's opener, when Robert Vittek was given space close to goal and nodded home a header.
"They're going to make mistakes but sadly the mistake that Winston Reid made, he got punished for," Adshead said.
"He was never, ever able to defend the space where the ball was delivered into, he was always on the wrong side of the attacker.
"That was a major mistake for a defender but, let's face it, he was the one who went from villain to hero by the end of the game."
New Zealand midfielder Leo Bertos mirrored Adshead's view that the midfield needed to create more chances. Largely forced into a defensive role, Bertos agreed he needed to do more to help his front men.
"For me I am disappointed with the opportunities I had going forward. The quality wasn't there to what I am used to doing," he said.
"We did keep the ball but when we had players in space we didn't give it to them quick enough so they could have had more time on it.
"I guess there are a couple of things I need to work on. Hopefully I can change that for the next game."
Assistant coach Brian Turner described the result as the best of his managing career but was also left asking for more against Italy in Nelspruit on Monday morning (NZT).
"There was actually an air of disappointment in that we didn't play as well as we can play and I think that's a very healthy sign moving forward. The boys know we can play better," Turner told Radio Sport.
"We had lot of ball but still probably didn't create clear scoring chances. At this level that's what the game is about.
"Will there be any changes in approach to last two matches? Early days yet, we're still celebrating."
Adshead expected Italy wouldn't allow the leeway Slovakia did, which allowed the All Whites to shed any nerves in the opening minutes.
"Slovakia surprised me in the cautious approach they took to it. I thought they would have been a little bit more positive than they were and that played into our hands. For the first 20 minutes we looked the better side," he said.
"From there on, you always felt that New Zealand were in with a chance.
"And when they went a goal up, they started to defend a little bit deeper. So we were a goal down but it was never going to be the end of the day."
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