And so it continues… After Alexander Isak withdrew from the Sweden squad and news came out that Bruno Guimaraes had picked up a niggle in the Brazil camp, a third Newcastle player has now been injured whilst representing their country.
In a friendly between New Zealand and Australia, Kiwi striker, Chris Wood was forced off after a strong challenge on half an hour.
33' 🔄 Substitution
Gutting one for Chris Wood. He has had to come off after getting injured in an earlier tackle.
Ben Waine is on to replace him.
🇳🇿 0 – 0 🇦🇺 #NZLvAUS pic.twitter.com/tx5QEvFtQh
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) September 25, 2022
It sounds like Wood was able to continue for a few minutes before being substituted and it’s said that he was seen at half-time signing autographs, so maybe it’s not going to be a knock that keeps him out for the Fulham game.
Players head down the tunnel at half time, injured Chris Wood spending the break taking selfies with fans. Class. pic.twitter.com/vGmq4Sl5Ry
— Chris Chang (@ChrisChang) September 25, 2022
Wood hasn’t come anywhere close to paying back his £25m fee for Newcastle, but Eddie Howe still sees him as an important member of the squad and does tend to use him when he’s named on the bench, so while, from a fans perspective it may not be much of a big deal to lose Wood, I’m sure Howe would see it differently. Especially with question marks over the fitness of both Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak at the moment.
Another noteworthy moment in that friendly for Newcastle fans was the International debut of Toon target, Garang Kuol. The youngster was brought on for the final 20 minutes and apparently looked very good. (via Newcastle United Blog)
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