{"id":386606,"date":"2026-04-11T11:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T11:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/386606\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T11:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T11:38:08","slug":"a-return-that-has-the-pharaohs-worried-new-zealand-national-team-gets-a-major-boost-ahead-of-the-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/386606\/","title":{"rendered":"A return that has the Pharaohs worried\u2026 New Zealand national team gets a major boost ahead of the World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New Zealand has received a major boost ahead of the World Cup after English club Nottingham Forest announced that veteran striker Chris Wood is ready to return to action\u2014a development that could throw a spanner in the works for Egypt, who are drawn in the same group as the Kiwis.\n<\/p>\n<p>The 34-year-old had been sidelined since last October after knee surgery, but his extended rehabilitation is now complete.\n<\/p>\n<p>Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira confirmed that Wood is \u201cphysically and mentally ready to return\u201d, adding that his comeback is a major boost for club and country alike.<\/p>\n<p>Read also: Arbeloa lashes out at refereeing in unprecedented outburst&#8230; and sends a strongly worded message to Bayern<\/p>\n<p>Wood, his country\u2019s all-time leading scorer, adds vital firepower and know-how against resilient defences, warning Egypt to be wary when the two sides meet.\n<\/p>\n<p>Regarded as New Zealand\u2019s most dangerous weapon, Wood combines formidable physicality with a clinical finishing ability, and his timely return sends an early warning to the Pharaohs.\n<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand sit in World Cup Group G alongside Belgium, Egypt and Iran, with matches scheduled for June.<\/p>\n<p>Read also: \u201cA dagger in Slot\u2019s back\u201d: How Salah is fuelling Liverpool\u2019s fire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand has received a major boost ahead of the World Cup after English club Nottingham Forest announced&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5543,85,87,46,1630,105,6866],"class_list":["post-386606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-egypt","tag-il","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-new-zealand","tag-sports","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}