Football: All Whites boosted by Chris Wood bonus ahead of OFC World Cup qualifying tournament

Chris Wood will arrive earlier than expected for the All Whites. Photo / Photosport

All Whites coach Danny Hay has confirmed that Chris Wood will be available for the majority of group matches at the OFC 2022 World Cup qualifying tournament in Qatar.

It's an unexpected bonus for New Zealand, as the Newcastle United striker was originally going to miss the first two pool games, before being considered for the third dependant on his fitness after the flight from England.

But Newcastle don't have a game this weekend – after their scheduled match with Crystal Palace was postponed until April thanks to the Eagles' progression in the FA Cup.

Hay said Wood would depart for the Middle East immediately following Newcastle's match on Friday morning against Everton.

"It's earlier than we expected," said Hay. "Which is a nice little pleasant surprise for the group. He'll have a reasonable lead in for that second game as well so I've got no doubt that he'll be chomping at the bit."

While that news is a boost, the immediate focus is Saturday's opening game against Papua New Guinea (3am). The training sessions have gone smoothly, though players had been arriving in "dribs and drabs".

Tommy Smith was the last to arrive among the first wave of 18 players, with the veteran defender joining the camp on Wednesday night (local time).

New players like Ben Waine and Ben Old were fitting in well, while Kosta Barbarouses was relishing his first All Whites environment in more than four years.

For the first time in Hay's tenure, the All Whites have genuine expectations on their shoulders, as the warm favourites to win the tournament. Leadership from the experienced men will help, but plenty of work has been done to prepare the younger players for the realities of competitive international football.

After waiting almost eight years for his chance, Hay confirmed that Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Oli Sail will start against Papua New Guinea, joking that he wants to "wrap him in cotton wool" ahead of the final training session.

"I can't wait to see him pull an All White shirt on and walk out there," said Hay. "It's been a long time coming but everybody's seen the quality that he possesses and the form that he's in."

It hasn't been easy to scout PNG, as they have barely played since the start of the Covid pandemic, but Hay identified their counter-attacking threat as a particular focus.

Former Hamilton Wanderers winger Tommy Semmy is a key man, but he had a delayed arrival from his club team in Australia. Talented attacker David Browne, now based at HJK Helsinki, is their other major offensive weapon, though his departure from Finland was also delayed.

But Papua New Guinea have had an extended build up together, with a few weeks in Australia before they arrived in Qatar on March 8. Since they have been in Doha they have had two warm-up victories over local second division club teams.

According to local newspaper The National, their campaign has been partly funded by a K1,000,000 ($415,000) grant from the Prime Minister, via the National Gaming Control board.

The Kapuls are ranked 165 on Fifa's ranking, more than 50 places below New Zealand (111).

The teams last met in the final of the 2016 Nations Cup, with the All Whites prevailing on penalties after a 0-0 draw after extra time.

The only other match in the last decade was in 2012, edged 2-1 by New Zealand in Honiara. Papua New Guinea have beaten the All Whites once in their history, with a 1-0 boilover in Port Moresby in 1997.