As the players filed toward the bus after their post match icebaths, Hager promised there was a little more pain to come.
"We will have a team meeting tonight and there might be a few home truths. I don't think the review of the match will be too pretty."
After the promise of the first 35 minutes and well taken goals to Cathryn Finlayson (10th minute) and Katie Glynn (26th minute), the second spell was a disappointment.
It wasn't capitulation; there was real fight to stop the waves of Korean attack but there was a lack of irresponsibility, a sense that too many were looking for courage from a team mate instead of within.
Hager was reluctant to use the sweltering conditions as an excuse, though it was a factor. The heat was oppressive; even the locals were running for any shaded areas.
At halftime during the preceding match (England versus Holland), tournament doctors were called in to assess if they was any player safety issues as the temperature had exceeded 40degC and there was briefly a prospect of extra drinks breaks.
By the time New Zealand's match had kicked off at 5.30pm local time the mercury was still touching 37, with a heavy layer of humidity.
After coping in the first spell, the Black Sticks visibly wilted in the second period.
The team had upped their intake of iced water throughout the day, and consumed their frozen slushies at every opportunity during the match.
"I think most people had finished theirs by halftime," striker Krystal Forgesson said. "Whereas often you don't get through half of it in an entire match."
"The heat was quite incredible," Gemma Flynn said. "It just sucked all the energy out of you. You want to run but your body struggles to move. I guess we didn't cope so well - mainly because of turnovers."
The Black Sticks were again lax with possession at an almost suicidal rate. It was hard to fault the effort in extreme conditions but the lack of care in possession was alarming.
"We have got to learn to respect the ball," Hager said. "At this level we need to maintain concentration but we were often careless."
Hager's message at halftime was simple.
"It's bloody hot out there so you have to make good decisions," he exhorted in the dugout. "Our challenge is to go out there and put them out of the match."
Goalkeeper Bianca Russell was magnificent in front of a defensive line that mostly held strong while Stacey Michelsen came up with a late goalline clearance that seemed to defy the laws of physics, the ball being virtually over the line before she managed to sweep it away from danger.
In the 44th minute Korea scored from a penalty corner, and grabbed a looping equaliser 12 minutes later.
They forced two more penalty corners in the last two minutes, converting the second to create the late drama.
New Zealand's final pool match is against Germany on Wednesday at 9.30am (NZT).
After two matches in less than 48 hours the team have been given tomorrow (Tues) off training and will spend the afternoon by the pool at a local country club.
In other matches today, Great Britain held the fancied Netherlands side to a 2-2 draw while China beat Japan 2-1. In the late match hosts Argentina overcome Germany 4-2.
New Zealand 2 (Finlayson, Glynn) Korea 2 (Jong-Eun, Ok-Ju (PC)). HT: 2-0.
*Herald on Sunday writer Michael Burgess travelled to Argentina with assistance from Hockey NZ
