All Whites v England: Chris Wood backs England to win Fifa World Cup but hopes NZ can test giants
Chris Wood believes England are good enough to lift the Fifa World Cup – but he is still hoping the All Whites could spring a surprise in this unlikely pre-tournament match-up in Tampa.
The All Whites skipper Wood has a unique insight into the current Three Lions squad, having faced most of them on multiple occasions across his long stint in the Premier League. That gives him belief in what England can achieve in the mega event, as they aim to continue their legacy established by former manager Gareth Southgate.
“I do think so,” Wood said when asked if he thought the Three Lions could achieve the ultimate success in North America. “They were my tip at the start. It’s going to be tough [with] France and Spain and Argentina and [teams] like that, but they’ve got the squad capable of doing it, and I’d like to see it happen because one of my close mates [Nottingham Forest’s Elliott Anderson] is playing on the team.”
With talent drawn from across the Premier League, plus the likes of Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Marcus Rashford (on loan at Barcelona), England are one of the best sides a New Zealand national team has ever faced. It’s rare for the All Whites to take on a superpower and the challenge this century is comparable to France (2003), Brazil (2006) and Spain (2009), games that all ended in profound defeats. But Wood hopes his teammates can rise to the occasion.
“I believe we’ve got a lot of good talent coming through,” Wood said. “It’s one of those when if they’re given the chance and able to, are they going to step up and take it? [It’s a big step up] but it’s something they’ve got to embrace if they want to be where they want to be and play against these guys week in, week out.”
Knowing that some of his teammates might be overawed, the captain’s message to the squad will be simple.
“To embrace it, to take on the challenge,” Wood said. “They’re human beings at the end of the day, they can make mistakes and they will make mistakes in the game, [so] capitalising on them. Nobody’s perfect in their team, but they’re very, very good. It’s just making sure you’re diligent, playing at the highest level you can personally play, and, exploiting the few weaknesses that they potentially could have.”
The other key is adjusting their collective mindset after the poor effort in the 4-0 loss to Haiti last Wednesday. It’s a tricky scenario – so close to the showpiece and players wary of injury – but Wood was disappointed with the effort last week, feeling that the Caribbean side brought a World Cup intensity, while the All Whites seemed to be in friendly mode.
“It’s the mentality side of it,” Wood said. “It wasn’t fully live or die, like the first game against Iran will be, and we need to bring more of that. And just being there to compete with them first and foremost, before being able to get on the ball.”
For his part, Wood is feeling sharp, despite his injury-affected season at club level.
“I feel like I’m coming in here fully firing,” Wood said.
The match will be played at the Raymond James Stadium, long-time home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The spectacular venue has a layer of grass over the usual turf for the match but Wood and coach Darren Bazeley saw no potential issues with the surface after their training. Bazeley wants to see a more cohesive effort from his side and knows they need to be much more defensively compact after the ragged second half against Haiti.
Though most of his top starting XI appears to be set in stone, there are a few positions up for grabs, particularly left wing, centre back and goalkeeper and Bazeley could test his options there.
“We need to perform, we need to be better than we were the other day, we need to show certain things within our defensive setup,” Bazeley said. “This is going to be a different game [than Haiti], we know that England are going to have probably more possession, but can we still create chances to score goals and have we got the players that are capable of taking that moment on the world stage?”
All Whites v England
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida.
Sunday, June 7, kickoff 8am NZT.
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.
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