Chris Wood desperate for World Cup return with New Zealand - and doesn't fear facing Lionel Messi to get there
Exclusive: New Zealand finished as the best team in the OFC section of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and could face Argentina or Chile to make it to Russia
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Your support makes all the difference.The eyes of New Zealand will be on South America this week, on Buenos Aires and Santiago, Quito and Sao Paulo. Anthony Hudson’s ‘All Whites’ side are in Japan to play a friendly – the Kirin Cup, named after the lager – but they have far more important matches ahead in the international break next month.
New Zealand finished as the best team in the OFC section of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, after beating Solomon Islands 8-3 over two legs, lining them up for a two-legged play-off against the fifth placed team from South America. As things stand this Wednesday afternoon that is Argentina but of course there are two games left to play and other sides could get dragged into it.
New Zealand could be getting anxious about avoiding Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and friends. They might even be wise to. But Burnley striker Chris Wood isn't too worried. “To be honest, they’re all going to be tough, so it doesn’t really matter who we get,” he told The Independent on the phone from Japan. “Chile are just as tough as Argentina. Peru we would probably want out of the three but the likelihood of getting Peru is likely very small.
"They’re going to be in fifth place for a reason, haven't won games they should have, so I think they’re going to be alright.”
Chile and Argentina contested the last two Copa America finals and, with all due respect, have more resources in terms of talented players than New Zealand do. But Wood is unphased by the prospect. His is a team who punches above their weight, and which has improved under English coach Hudson in the past three years. Hudson, the 36-year-old former manager of Bahrain, is very much a players’ manager, even in the narrow windows of the international calendar drilling his players in what he expects from them. “He’s a proper coach who likes to get down and work with the players,” Wood says. “He makes sure everybody understands their roles and responsibilities.”
That approach won New Zealand the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, and from there to the Confederations Cup in Russia earlier this summer. For a country who have only ever been to two World Cups it meant a lot for them just to be there. “It was a good competition to be in, especially for a country like ours, we never get to play the top teams,” Wood says. “So we learn so much from those kind of games. And we just improve massively on the backs of them. So it was good for us.”
They lost the opening game to Russia in St Petersburg 2-0, then went to Sochi were they played Mexico and lost 2-1. Then back to St Petersburg to face the European champions, where they lost 4-0 to an inspired Portugal. “They were just in a class of their own,” Wood said, “when they turned it on they created some great opportunities.”
If New Zealand can build on that experience when they face whichever South American team in November, they will be heading back to Russia next year. It would be quite an achievement for a team who has only ever played in two World Cups but Wood is desperate to get back there. He was part of the squad at South Africa in 2010, an 18-year-old trying to make his way at West Bromwich Albion. He came on as a second half substitute in all three of their Group F draws with Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay.
“I was in the set up for one year before the World Cup,” Wood remembers. “It was a dream come true, playing in a World Cup, and fulfilling that dream is nice. But I only came off the bench in those games so there is a bit of me that still wants to go back, start every single game, score some goals and do well.”
Wood was the youngest member of that squad but now he is probably the most experienced member of Hudson’s side. He has a job to pass on the lessons to the next generation of players.
“There are a lot of things I can pass on, on and off the pitch, and mentality is a massive one,” he said. “The mental side of football plays a huge part, knowing what you have to deal with, and how to come through, is huge. Luckily I did get to a World Cup, and can explain what it’s like. And I hold a hope to get back there, to play on the world stage. It’s the best stage in the world to play on.”
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