Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood turned provider as New Zealand drew 2-2 with Iran at the World Cup, and he thinks his teammates are still feeling confident.
The All Whites led twice against Iran but had to settle for a share of the spoils in the end.
New Zealand now have Egypt and Belgium to play, and one win from those two games should guarantee Wood and his teammates a knockout match.
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Wood was praised by the media for his efforts against Iran, with two assists coming for Elijah Just’s brace.
After the game, he gave a very short interview with the media in his home country, and the Forest star is still feeling confident.
Chris Wood on his two assists for New Zealand at the World Cup
After the game, Wood spoke with a Kiwi reporter, and he was asked about his two assists and also how the team were feeling after being forced to settle for a draw.
He said on the share of the spoils: “We’ll look back in the morning, and it might be a bit bittersweet, but I think the boys have done extremely well, and we should be proud.”
It was rare for Wood to get a couple of assists when he’s been so renowned for scoring goals across his career and he was just happy to help.
He added: “I don’t really do that across my career, so to pop up and get a couple of those, I think it’s about time. I think from any point of view, he (Elijah Just) would be saying, I’ve given you so many chances, so about time you give me a chance. I was glad I could help the team out.”
Wood is playing at his second World Cup with the All Whites, and he’s confessed that this year’s event will be different for him.
Finally, he said: “It’s hugely different from 16 years ago, I’ve got different goals, different aspirations to help this team out. I was just a kid who was going to be coming off the bench to do something, but now it’s about leading, and I think the team was fantastic today.
“We’ll take a lot of confidence, we played extremely well, we created a lot of chances.”
New Zealand need Wood to find goals
The All Whites’ failure to beat Iran piles the pressure on New Zealand to get out of the group.
Belgium and Egypt will be trickier games to negotiate, and they now need their big game player to step up and score goals over the next two games.
Wood has been outstanding for Forest over the past two years, and now he will be calling upon all of his experience to pull his country into the knockout stages.
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