Soccer: Wood unveils special undies

Chris Wood. Photo / Getty Images

Chris Wood had hoped to unveil them at the World Cup. Underneath his shorts was a pair of specially-made briefs given to him by his girlfriend - although the teenager might be in trouble after saying it was from "one of my missus"'.

Emblazoned on the back of his undies was 'Woodzee', revealed after he scored his first goal in an All Whites shirt (he kept that on).

"It was about the fifth time I have worn them and the first time I have been able to show them," he said.

"It will be a night I will remember. Hopefully it is the first [goal] of many and it will always live on in my memory."

For captain Ryan Nelsen, carved from more traditional stock, it is an image he might want to erase but Woods' public display summed up how far New Zealand football had come in recent times.

"It's fun to be a part of when you have confident, young men pulling down their pants when they score," he said. "It's great to see ... well, I'll rephrase that - it's great to see confidence.

"It was enjoyable tonight; it wasn't work. It was portrayed in the way the players played. They expressed themselves.

"We could have put the game to bed but we are entertainers and wanted to keep it to the last minute. Smeltzy [Shane Smeltz] didn't get the script, though. We should have finished that one."

Coach Ricki Herbert hopes it continues on Tuesday against Paraguay in Wellington. He would like more of his players to see game time but felt he owed it to the public to start with his World Cup "stars".

Nelsen picked up a niggle but said he was desperate to play but Rory Fallon is likely to see time off the bench.