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New Zealand Captain Wood Fit and Fired Up for World Cup

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - International Friendly - Australia v New Zealand - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - October 17, 2023 New Zealand's Chris Wood Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - International Friendly - Australia v New Zealand - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - October 17, 2023 New Zealand's Chris Wood Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
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New Zealand Captain Wood Fit and Fired Up for World Cup

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - International Friendly - Australia v New Zealand - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - October 17, 2023 New Zealand's Chris Wood Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - International Friendly - Australia v New Zealand - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - October 17, 2023 New Zealand's Chris Wood Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra/File Photo

New Zealand captain Chris Wood says he is fully fit for the World Cup and his long injury battle has made him hungrier for success as the All Whites look to reach the knockout phase for the first time.

After undergoing surgery on his left knee in December, the 34-year-old striker returned to action for Nottingham Forest last month before being included in New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley's squad for the June 11 to July 19 finals in North America.

New Zealand's record scorer with 45 goals in 88 appearances, Wood said he had moved past the recovery phase with his knee and was looking forward to locking ⁠horns with Iran, ⁠Egypt and Belgium at the World Cup.

"I'm fully back to full fitness. I've been playing games now for over a month-and-a-half, so I feel good, feel up to speed, which is nice, and ready to continue to attack the off-season," he told reporters in a video call on Friday.

"I'm just happy to be back firing both for Forest and for the national team coming into this World Cup period.

"And it's just ⁠given me that hunger to strive and achieve more, definitely."

Wood and defender Tommy Smith are the only players in the squad who represented New Zealand the last time they played at the World Cup when it was hosted by South Africa in 2010.

Then 18, Wood came off the bench in the group matches against Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay.

New Zealand bowed out with three draws but won acclaim for going through unbeaten in their second World Cup and first since 1982.

Wood said the current squad was completely different, much more a technical, ball-playing side versus the "run-through-brick-walls" players of 2010.

He was nonetheless confident they could get out of their ⁠group.

"That's our aim, ⁠and then build from there. We're under no illusion it's going to be tough, but we think we've got the quality in our dressing room to be able to do that," Reuters quoted him as saying.

New Zealand kick off their World Cup against Iran on June 15 in Los Angeles, a match that will be in the spotlight following the United States and Israel's military strikes against the Middle East nation.

While Iran's preparations have been disrupted by the conflict, Wood said they would be no pushovers.

"I believe they're 21st, 22nd in the world, so no mugs in that sense," he said.

"So they're going to be tough to beat and tough to perform against.

"I know the (NZ) coaching staff is doing all they can to do the analytic side of it for (Iran). And we'll be ready on and off the pitch for them."

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Sports

Success Fuels Guardiola’s Campaign for a ‘Better Society’

Pep Guardiola giving a speech on Palestine in Barcelona earlier this year. (Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola giving a speech on Palestine in Barcelona earlier this year. (Getty Images)
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Success Fuels Guardiola’s Campaign for a ‘Better Society’

Pep Guardiola giving a speech on Palestine in Barcelona earlier this year. (Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola giving a speech on Palestine in Barcelona earlier this year. (Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola is more than a football manager, using his high-profile platform to highlight causes close to his heart.

Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly may have believed football was "much, much more important" than life or death but for Guardiola several things outside the "beautiful game" matter almost as much.

The 55-year-old Spaniard will step away from the Manchester City dugout on Sunday after winning 20 trophies in 10 years.

From Palestinian children to Catalan independence and homelessness in the United Kingdom, Guardiola has strayed outside the borders of his job to bang the drum for a diverse range of causes during that time.

He has made no bones about using his position as a podium to "speak up to be a better society".

Guardiola's most recent foray into sensitive political territory has been his passionate embrace of Palestinian children in Gaza during the two-year war with Israel and their suffering in the aftermath.

The war, sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, has killed at least 72,568 people in Gaza. Victims included children from toddlers to late teens.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people still live in tents, and conditions remain dire despite a ceasefire that came into effect in October.

The devastation is acutely felt by the youngest in society, a topic Guardiola felt sufficiently important to miss a pre-match press conference and attend a charity event, Act x Palestine, in Barcelona in January this year.

With a Palestinian keffiyeh draped round his neck, he went on the offensive.

"I think what we think when I see a child in these past two years with these images on social media, on television, recording himself, pleading 'where is my mother?' among the rubble, and he still doesn't know it," he said.

"And I always think: what must they be thinking? And I think we have left them alone, abandoned."

- 'I will stand up' -

While widely lauded, his forays into the delicate issue also met with opprobrium, not least from the representatives of Manchester's Jewish community.

Remarks he made last summer prompted them to write a letter to the Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak warning his comments put the lives of Jews living in Manchester "in danger".

Guardiola, though, was unbowed -- just as he was when he was fined £20,000 ($27,000) by the Football Association in 2018 for wearing a yellow ribbon to support imprisoned politicians in his native Catalonia.

It is not just the suffering of Palestinian children that has exercised his mind.

He spoke out at a press conference in February to deplore not only the violence in the Middle East but also Ukraine, Sudan and the deaths of two people in the United States at the hands of ICE agents.

"When you have an idea and you need to defend (it) and you have to kill thousands, thousands of people -- I'm sorry, I will stand up," he said.

"Always I will be there. Always."

However, with anti-Semitism on the rise, the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region was angered that he made no reference to a terror attack on a synagogue in the city last October which resulted in two deaths.

Guardiola has also paid attention to those who suffer closer to home.

For several years his Guardiola Sala Foundation has supported the Salvation Army's Partnership Trophy, a five-a-side football tournament in Manchester which raised awareness of homelessness in the United Kingdom.

"It's so encouraging to witness how football can bring people together and help them overcome really tough personal challenges," he said.

Sports

Slot Says He and Salah Want 'What’s Best for Liverpool' before Brentford Finale

25 April 2026, United Kingdom, Liverpool: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah with manager Arne Slot after being substituted during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire/dpa
25 April 2026, United Kingdom, Liverpool: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah with manager Arne Slot after being substituted during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire/dpa
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Slot Says He and Salah Want 'What’s Best for Liverpool' before Brentford Finale

25 April 2026, United Kingdom, Liverpool: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah with manager Arne Slot after being substituted during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire/dpa
25 April 2026, United Kingdom, Liverpool: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah with manager Arne Slot after being substituted during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire/dpa

Liverpool manager Arne Slot said on Friday that he and Mohamed Salah both care about the club's success after the Egyptian questioned their style of play in a social media post.

Slot, however, declined to confirm whether the forward, who is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, would feature in the club's final game of the campaign at Anfield against Brentford on Sunday.

In a post on X, Salah urged the club to rediscover their attacking identity after a painful 4-2 defeat by Aston Villa left Champions League qualification in the balance

"Mo and I have the same interests, we want the best for this club, we want it to be as successful as possible. We were both part of giving our fans their first title for five years, but we are also aware we haven't brought that same level this season," Slot told reporters on Friday.

"What we and I want is for the club to be as successful as last season. And that is where my main focus is on now because the game on Sunday could give us a really good base for next season.

"I never say anything about team selection, so it would be a surprise to you if I did that right now."

Salah, third on Liverpool's all-time top-scorers list, had highlighted the club's inconsistent campaign and called for a return to the aggressive style that brought previous success under former manager Juergen Klopp.

However, the Dutchman said the forward's criticism had not affected the team's training as they prepare to host Brentford.

With one more Champions League spot up for grabs, fifth-placed Liverpool, on 59 points, will aim to maintain their three-point lead and six-goal-difference advantage over sixth-placed Bournemouth.

"I don't think it is important what I feel, what is important is we qualify for the Champions League on Sunday," Slot added.

"So I prepare Mo and the whole of the team in the best possible way, that is what matters. I was very disappointed after our loss against Villa, as a win would've given us Champions League qualification, and now there is one game to go and it is vital for us as a club."

Goalkeeper Alisson Becker resumed training on Friday and is expected to be fit for the final game, Slot said, after being sidelined since mid-March with a hamstring injury.

Sports

Guardiola to Step Down after Glittering Decade at Man City

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Brentford - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - May 9, 2026 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates after the match REUTERS/Chris Radburn/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Brentford - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - May 9, 2026 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates after the match REUTERS/Chris Radburn/File Photo
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Guardiola to Step Down after Glittering Decade at Man City

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Brentford - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - May 9, 2026 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates after the match REUTERS/Chris Radburn/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Brentford - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - May 9, 2026 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates after the match REUTERS/Chris Radburn/File Photo

Pep Guardiola confirmed Friday what Manchester City fans had been fearing. The club’s most successful manager is leaving, bringing to a close a trophy-laden, 10-year spell in which he established City as one of major forces in Europe and changed the face of English football. 

Guardiola, who had a further year left on his City contract, will take charge of his final game against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. 

“Don’t ask me the reasons I’m leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside, I know it’s my time,” he said 

City said Guardiola would take up a role as global ambassador. 

Enzo Maresca — the former Chelsea manager who was previously assistant to Guardiola at City — is the favorite to take on the daunting task of filling the Catalan's shoes after a decade of unprecedented dominance. 

Since joining City in the summer of 2016, Guardiola led the Abu Dhabi-backed team to six Premier League titles and the Champions League for the first time in 2023. 

He won 17 major trophies in all, including a domestic double this season of the English League Cup and the FA Cup. He has won 35 major titles across his coaching career including his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. 

City was by far his longest job in management, having never previously stayed more than four years in a role. 

“I will not train for a while,” Guardiola said. “I feel I would not have the energy that is required to daily … with the expectations to fight for the titles.” 

Guardiola set new benchmarks, with City becoming the first team to win four-straight English league titles and the first to amass 100 points in a single season in 2018. The following year City became the first team to win the domestic treble of the league, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season. 

But his biggest achievement was leading City to the ultimate treble in 2023, winning the league, Champions League and FA Cup — matching Manchester United’s feat from more than 20 years earlier in 1999. 

He also brought to England a style of soccer — a possession-based approach that started with playing the ball out from the goalkeeper or defense — that ended up being mimicked across the country, from kids’ teams at grassroots level to rival teams in the Premier League. 

“The unique approach that he brings to his coaching has allowed him to constantly challenge the accepted truths of our game. It is the reason that in the last 10 years he has not only made Manchester City better — he has also made football better,” City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said. He added that it was the “right answer” for Guardiola to walk away now. 

While he goes out on another trophy-winning campaign, this was the first time in his career that he has gone two seasons without being crowned league champion. 

City was also eliminated from the Champions League before the quarterfinal stage in each of the last two years. 

City said Guardiola's new role would see him give technical advice to clubs in its ownership group. 

“Pep’s legacy is extraordinary and its true impact will be better assessed by Manchester City historians of the future,” said chief executive Ferran Sorriano. “If there is something more difficult than winning, it is winning again. It requires incredible persistence, resilience and the humility to start again every year, with the same energy, again and again. This is what Pep did.” 

“We worked. We suffered. We fought. And we did things our own way. Our way,” said Guardiola in his farewell message to fans.