The All Whites have easily beaten Samoa 8-0 in Auckland in their Group B match of the FIFA World Cup Oceania Qualifier with Chris Wood showing his class.
The New Zealand side ranked 91st showed their skill over the 186th ranked Samoa with none other than Wood putting three away in a short period in the first half and then in the 60th minute before being subbed.
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The New Zealanders dominated from the outset against their largely amateur opponents, they found a strong resilient defence difficult to break down.
Marko Stamenic had three shots in the first five minutes that forced Pele Fatu in the Samoan goal to make three tremendous saves.
Twenty minutes in and Sarpreet Singh’s deflected shot rocketed into Fatu as New Zealand searched for an opening goal.
That opener came in the 24th minute after Matt Garbett had his shot saved by Fatu who pushed the ball into the path of Callum McCowatt who angled in his fourth goal for the All Whites.
Four minutes later Wood tucked away his 39th goal for his country from a deflected cross before knocking in his 40th international goal 11 minutes before half-time for a 3-0 score at the break.
.Wood then had his 41st international goal as he volleyed in New Zealand’s fourth goal. He was then substituted not long after and appeared to come through unscathed no doubt to the delight of EPL side Nottingham Forest
Marco Stamenic made it five before Francis de Vries scored New Zealand’s sixth, his first international goal with a rocket of a volley 14 minutes from full-time. Elijah Just rifled in a powerful left footed strike to make it 7-0.
A foul on De Vries in extra time sent the referee pointing to the penalty spot and it was a well taken penalty from Ben Waine which completed a resounding win.
Darren Bazeley's New Zealand will face Group A runners-up Fiji in the semi-finals next March with New Caledonia and Tahiti to meet in the other semi-final.
New Zealand 8 (Chris Wood 3, Callum McCowatt, Marko Stamenic, Frances de Vries, Ben Waine. Eli Just) Samoa 0
HT 3-0