- Steve Wooddin
Steve Wooddin (born
January 16 ,1955 ) was aNew Zealand soccer player, and a leading striker during the country's only successful campaign to qualify for the World Cup, inSpain . Born inEngland and moving toNew Zealand club Dunedin City in 1977, his international career for his adopted country spanned 37 matches from 1980 until cut short by a recurring ankle injury in 1984. A noted left-footed attacking player, he had a deadly ability to find the net.Wooddin was first selected for the New Zealand national team (the All Whites) for a 16th May, 1980, 1-1 draw against a Southern Region team in
Christchurch . He retained his place in the team which lost 2-1 to a Central Region selection two days later inWellington .Despite the unconvincing results, Wooddin was selected for the next match, in August, against
Mexico inAuckland . He scored the fourth goal in a 4-0 win that remains one of the most outstanding and unexpected results in New Zealand's international football history.The following year saw New Zealand begin the long road to the
1982 World Cup Finals . Wooddin was selected for all fifteen games in the ultimately successful campaign, scoring eight goals in the process, including trademark left foot shots into the bottom corner both home and away againstAustralia , againstKuwait in the controversial 1-2 home loss, and inRiyadh againstSaudi Arabia when the team recorded a stunning 5-0 victory. This last result led to a play-off againstChina inSingapore in January 1982, in which Wooddin again scored with a left-foot shot to open the scoring in his side's 2-1 win. Wooddin was one ofNew Zealand 's only two scorers in the1982 World Cup (along withSteve Sumner ), scoring the second goal in a 5-2 loss toScotland . He also started the subsequent matches against theSoviet Union andBrazil .In
1983 injuries reduced Wooddin to just two international appearances againstAustralia andFiji . He made his last two appearances for the All Whites againstFiji in October,1984 , scoring the winner in the first of these matches, before being forced to retire due to injured ankle ligaments.Club history
*
Dunedin City (1980)
*South Melbourne FC (1981-1983)
*Christchurch United (1984)External links
*FIFA player|60039|Steve Woodin
* [http://www.nzsoccer.com/page/1982_world_cup_team.html New Zealand 1982 World Cup squad]
* [http://www.stuff.co.nz/AAMB1/aamsz=760x120/4096216a18075.html Newspaper article from www.stuff.co.nz]
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