Wood’s growth on display for all to see
GETTY IMAGES IT was the Solomon Islands coach who summed up Chris Wood’s impact the best, in the wake of his side’s 6-1 loss to the All Whites on Friday.
‘‘He plays in the Premier League, [he] just signed a huge contract and the other day at Wembley [he] scored an equalising goal against Tottenham,’’ said Felipe VegaArango Alonso.
‘‘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?
‘‘It’s like New Zealand and Portugal, how do you stop Cristiano Ronaldo? You have a plan and you just try to see it implemented, but it’s still hard.’’
Wood, who was released yesterday along with Ryan Thomas for the second leg by coach Anthony Hudson, isn’t anywhere close to Ronaldo, really, but as far as the Solomon Islands were concerned, they might as well have been one and the same.
The Burnley striker finished with a hat-trick, consisting of a first-time finish, a delicate chip, and a curling free kick, but he could have had four or five more, as he turned in the most dominant performance by a New Zealand footballer in years.
It was the 25-year-old’s second international hat-trick, following the one he scored against the same team five years ago.
Back then, he was at Premier League club West Bromwich Albion, but spending most of his time out on loan.
‘‘I’ve changed a lot since I was 20,’’ Wood said after Friday’s game. ‘‘I’ve learned a hell of a lot, and I’ll have learned another hell of a lot when I’m 30 in five years time.’’
Wood’s potential has been obvious since he left New Zealand as a schoolboy, but he has had to work hard.
He has worn the shirts of 10 different English teams, and wherever he has gone, he has always scored goals – 102 in 297 club appearances, to go with 23 in 53 games for the All Whites.
As he scored his hat-trick on Friday, Wood rose rapidly up the All Whites’ all-time goalscoring charts, passing Brian Turner (21), and Steve Sumner (22), so that he now sits behind only Shane Smeltz (24) and Vaughan Coveny (29).
He will top that list in no time, but for now, while such honours are nice, he has a singular focus.