I watched the Haiti game at 9am with a coffee going cold in my hand, and by the fourth goal I was talking to my television in two languages. Neither of them polite.

Let us not dress this up. Haiti beat the All Whites 4-0 in Fort Lauderdale, in the first World Cup warm-up, 13 days before the biggest match this country has played in 16 years. Ruben Providence in the 11th minute. Lenny Joseph in the 51st. Frantzdy Pierrot in the 62nd. Duke Lacroix in the 87th. Four goals, zero response, and a defence that looked like it had been introduced to itself in the hotel lobby that morning.

The excuses, and why they only half work

Yes, there are mitigations, and they are real. The match was delayed by lightning. The humidity was brutal for a squad coming out of a New Zealand winter. Darren Bazeley rotated heavily because with 13 days to Iran, nobody sane risks a hamstring in a friendly. And Haiti are not minnows: they are ranked above New Zealand and they are going to the World Cup too.

All true. And all beside the point.

Because here is what I saw, and what every coach in Group G saw: a team that loses its shape when the press arrives, that cannot manage a transition, and that switches off in wide areas. Iran will have watched that tape with a smile. Belgium will not even need the tape.

What growing up in South America teaches you about games like this

Where I grew up, we have a saying: friendlies do not exist. Every match is information. When a small footballing nation prepares for a World Cup, the warm-up is not about the result, it is about the rehearsal of suffering. Can you stay compact for 90 minutes? Can you take a punch in the 11th minute and not concede again before halftime? On Wednesday the answer was no, and no.

But here is the other thing South American football teaches you: humiliation two weeks before a tournament is a gift, if you use it. A 1-1 draw in that friendly and this squad flies to Los Angeles comfortable. Comfortable teams die at World Cups. Angry teams, embarrassed teams, teams with something to prove, those teams are dangerous. Ask anyone who remembers what wounded sides do in opening matches.

What actually needs to change before June 16

One: the first-choice back line needs to play together, now, every training minute available. Two: someone has to own the space in front of the defence, because Haiti walked through it like tourists through Cuba Street. Three: mentality. Wood and Tommy Smith have been to World Cups. The other 24 have not. The senior players have 11 days to transfer scar tissue to a squad that has none.

I am not panicking. I refuse to panic in week one. But I am also not going to sit here and tell you it was fine, because where I come from, lying to the fans is the only unforgivable sin in football. It was not fine. It was a warning. The good news about warnings is that they arrive before the disaster, not after.

June 16, 1pm, against Iran. We find out if anyone was listening.