New Zealand Coach Praises 'Amazing' Chris Wood for Impressive Form at Forest

Chris Wood's prolific goal-scoring for Nottingham Forest is unprecedented for New Zealand football and may never be repeated, the country's coach said Thursday. The centre-forward is in the form of his life with eight goals in 11 matches to play a major part in Forest's strong start to the season in the English Premier League, where they sit fifth.

New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley hopes that the 32-year-old can fire his country to their first World Cup since 2010. "Everyone wants to talk about Woodsy right now," Bazeley said on the eve of a home World Cup qualifier against Vanuatu.

"He's doing amazing... right now what he's done -- this is something that may not happen again for a New Zealander to be playing at that level, in that form." Englishman Bazeley, a defender in his playing days whose clubs included Wolves and Watford, said rugby-mad New Zealand did not fully appreciate how good Wood has been.

The captain has hit 34 goals in 75 games for his country and played for a number of big clubs in England, including Newcastle, Leeds, Leicester and Burnley. Last week Wood was named Premier League player of the month, the first New Zealander to win the prize.

"It's hard to comprehend here, the magnitude of what he's doing," said Bazeley. "It's amazing that he's such a good Kiwi lad, he's so passionate about playing for the All Whites. "He's definitely flavour of the month, everybody wants a piece of Woodsy at the minute." Qualification in Oceania for the 2026 World Cup in North America will come down to a third and final qualifying round in March.