Chris Wood has broken Vaughan Covney’s long-held record of 29 All Whites goals with a brace against Fiji to take him to 30 for the men’s national team. 

Wood’s goal came as part of a dominant performance, beating the Bula Boys 4-0 at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Oceania Qualifiers in Doha. 
 

Goals from Wood (45’, 73’), Elijah Just (71’) and a late penalty from Clayton Lewis (90+3’) topped off a fine display across the pitch. Just and Lewis’s strikes were both their first in an All Whites shirt. Both also got an assist on each of Chris Wood’s goals. 

The win sees Danny Hay’s side progress to the semi-finals with a game still to play in the group, this Friday’s (NZ) game against New Caledonia. Speaking after the game he was proud of the attacking performance but still stressed there was more to come from his team. 
 

“I’m obviously very pleased with the result. I thought at times the quality for football was really, really good. 

“Obviously we would have liked to be a bit more clinical, particularly in that first half. That said, I’m really pleased we were able to give multiple players game time. 

“Now that we are through we probably will freshen things up and then look ahead to semi-finals.”

New Zealand 4 (Wood 45’, 73’, Just 71’, Lewis pen 90+3’)
Fiji 0

Article added: Tuesday 22 March 2022