New Zealand's Chris Wood is currently out injured. Photo / Photosport
Ahead of their toughest matches of the year, the All Whites will be without their most valuable player.
That’s the unfortunate reality for the New Zealand team, with captain Chris Wood ruled out of the upcoming internationals against Colombia and Ecuador in the United States.
Colombia are ranked 13th in the world by Fifa and Ecuador are 23rd. Ecuador finished second in South American qualifying for the 2026 Fifa World Cup – ahead of powerhouses like Brazil and Uruguay – while Colombia were third. The All Whites are ranked 85th.
Wood has been struggling with a knee problem for a couple of months, with his loading carefully managed during that time. But he is currently sidelined at Nottingham Forest, with his return time unconfirmed.
The injury is not believed to be serious but has restricted his ability to play and train and the 33-year-old hasn’t played for Forest since a substitute appearance on October 18 against Chelsea, which turned out to be Ange Postecoglou’s last match in charge.
“This window has come too soon,” All Whites coach Darren Bazeley told the Herald. “I don’t think he’s going to play for Forest for the next few weeks until it’s completely recovered. Obviously, it’s not ideal when you lose your captain and a Premier League goalscorer. We’re a team that hasn’t scored lots of goals, so it does make things a little bit harder. But we have to deal with it and it means opportunities for other players.”
Bazeley said they were unlikely to change their shape, though would make “tweaks” to allow for the absence of Wood.
It means that veteran Kosta Barbarouses, Ben Waine and Andre de Jong are the striker options. All three have their different attributes. Barbarouses has the most experience – with 70 games – though has yet to prove himself consistently on the international stage, especially against the bigger nations and eight of his nine goals for the All Whites have come against Oceania teams. But Bazeley said he is still seen as the understudy to Wood, given his record of excellence in the A-League.
This squad is boosted by the return of vice-captain Liberato Cacace, who has missed the last two windows with a hamstring injury picked up at Wrexham AFC. Attacking midfielder Elijah Just, who is enjoying an excellent season at Scottish Premiership team Motherwell, is also back in the mix after injury.
Swansea midfielder Marko Stamenic has been selected for the games at this stage, though Bazeley said details will be ironed out at a later stage, with Stamenic still grieving the tragic recent passing of his father Nikola Stamenic.
“It’s such horrendous news, hearing that he’s lost his dad,” Bazeley said. “He pretty much came on every tour to support Marko and the team so he’s really close to a lot of the players. It’s just terrible, terrible news. Marko’s with his family at the moment. We’ll talk to Marko [at some stage] around what he wants from the tour and how he is. At this stage, we’re still planning on Marko being there and I think he’ll want to be around the players for that period.”
Central Coast Mariners right fullback Storm Roux has replaced Tim Payne, who broke his collarbone playing for the Wellington Phoenix last week, while Bill Tuiloma is another option there. Bazeley conceded that Callan Elliott was unfortunate to miss the cut, as at the time of selection the Auckland FC man wasn’t playing but now could have an extended run of game time with captain Hiroki Sakai’s absence.
“Maybe the timing has gone against Callan,” Bazeley said.
Auckland FC teammate Jesse Randall was also “very, very close” to making the trip, after an impressive start to the season.
“He is flexible positionally and looking really sharp,” Bazeley said. “There is a lot of competition for places but he is on the radar and potentially a bit unlucky.”
Logan Rogerson’s lack of club game time counted against him, while Nando Pijnaker wasn’t considered, as he works his way back from a long-term ankle injury.
Uncapped Sweden-based Kees Sims has been picked as the third goalkeeper option, replacing Nik Tzanev, who has struggled for recent match minutes. Otherwise, the core of the squad remains the same, though Bazeley confirmed there is still a lot to play for ahead of the Fifa World Cup next June.
“This is a window with two big games and we’ll always try and select as strong a squad as we can,” Bazeley said. “But the World Cup is still a long way away, and there’s a lot of football to be played, especially with club football. This window doesn’t rule anybody out.”
Colombia v New Zealand – Sunday November 16
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 1pm (NZT)
Ecuador v New Zealand – Wednesday November 19
Harrison, New Jersey, 1.30pm (NZT)
Goalkeepers:
Alex Paulsen (5 caps/0 goals) Lechia Gdańsk, Poland
Max Crocombe (19/0) Millwall
Kees Sims (debut) GAIS, Sweden
Defenders
Tyler Bindon (20/3) Sheffield United
Michael Boxall (60/1) Minnesota United
Liberato Cacace (35/1) Wrexham AFC, Wales
Francis de Vries (15/1) Auckland FC
Storm Roux (16/0) Central Coast Mariners
George Stanger (0/0) Kilmarnock
Finn Surman (13/2) Portland Timbers
Bill Tuiloma (45/4) Charlotte FC
Midfielders
Joe Bell (28/1) Viking FK, Norway
Matt Garbett (34/5) Peterborough United
Eli Just (38/8) Motherwell
Callum McCowatt (28/4) Silkeborg IF, Denmark
Ben Old (18/1) AS Saint-Étienne
Alex Rufer (22/0) Wellington Phoenix
Sarpreet Singh (24/3) FK TSC Bačka Topola, Serbia
Marko Stamenić (33/3) Swansea City
Ryan Thomas (23/3) PEC Zwolle
Strikers
Kosta Barbarouses (70/9) Western Sydney Wanderers
Andre de Jong (11/2) Stellenbosch, South Africa
Ben Waine (26/8) Port Vale
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.