Wood personifies team first ethos

about that,” said Wood. “My goal and the team’s goal is the [2018] World Cup. We need to take that a step at a time and that comes with Tuesday.”

There was an element of fortune in the lead-up to his first two goals but both finishes were top class and the 25m free kick for his third underlined his confidence.

Solomon’s coach Felipe Vega-Arango admitted his game plan had centred around blunting the

Burnley striker.

“My plan was simple,” said VegaArango. “Five at the back, one of them, man to man cover [on Wood]. It’s the only thing you can do. He plays in the Premier League, [he] just signed a huge contract and the other day at Wembley, [he] scored a equalising goal against Tottenham. We are talking about Tottenham, not Solomon Warriors, with all my respect to Solomon Warriors, and we didn’t do the job. It’s tough; you want to stop him but how do you stop him?”

Wood also stood out for his all-round play. His vision was one step ahead of most on the field, and he rarely wasted a pass. The skipper also worked hard, at one stage tracking back close to his own penalty area to win the ball.

“He was exceptional,” said team-mate Ryan Thomas. “He has a busy schedule now [so] coming in, having three or four days to train and scoring a hat-trick like he did, it was very good for us.”

His haul was just the second All Whites triple in more than a decade, and the first since Wood hit three against the same opposition in Honiara in 2012.

Wood won’t have a chance to add to his goal-scoring tally in the return leg on Tuesday, with coach Anthony Hudson deciding to release Wood and Thomas back to their respective European clubs.

“We have the players within this group to win the game and finish the job,” said Hudson.