Eddie Howe has told nufc.co.uk he wanted Chris Wood to be with Newcastle United during their warm-weather training camp, but is thrilled the striker is flourishing for New Zealand.
Wood became the All Whites’ all-time leading goalscorer on Monday after netting a brace in a 4-0 win over Fiji. The result lifted New Zealand to the top spot in the qualifying group for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, ahead of hosting last-place New Caledonia on Thursday.
The top-two from Group B will then face the respective top-ranked sides from Group A in two one-off fixtures for a place in the intercontinental play-offs. Those will be held in two months’ time against the fourth-best North/Central America and the Caribbean team.
Wood missed New Zealand’s opening Group B win over Papua New Guinea as Newcastle visited Everton the day before. He was unable to score at Goodison Park to add to his one Premier League hit for the Magpies since moving to St James’ Park from Burnley for £25m.
The striker has been a mainstay of Howe’s side since leaving Turf Moor with Callum Wilson yet to return from a calf injury. Wood has started all 10 available fixtures since the 62-cap New Zealand record-setter moved to Newcastle. He has also played all 900 minutes so far.
Howe lauds Wood’s ‘incredible’ int’l goal record but wanted star with Newcastle
Wood taking his international tally for New Zealand to 30 goals thrilled Newcastle manager Howe. The Auckland native has overtaken Vaughan Coveny’s previous record of 29 goals.
“It’s an amazing achievement for him and his family,” he said. “A hugely proud moment, I’m sure. To play for your country is one thing, and a huge honour. But to actually score the amount of goals he has and become the record goalscorer is an incredible achievement.”
But while Howe is thrilled for Wood, he would have liked to have had the striker with him in Dubai as Newcastle squeeze a warm-weather training camp into the international break.
“I always want a player to achieve their dreams, goals and aims,” Howe adds. “If that is with their country, I want them to achieve that. So yes, of course, we’d love Chris with us. But he has this dream, he loves doing well for his country and we embrace that.
“We want him to go and we want for him to do well. But we also want him back in one piece for us!”
Howe would surely have liked to have had Wood with Newcastle in Dubai for their training camp. But he will not get the gains of working with the New Zealand hero ahead of visiting Tottenham Hotspur in their next fixture on April 3 while still eying Premier League survival.
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