It is unclear if the knee he injured was the same one he had surgery on.

All Whites coach Darren Bazeley will be leading those hoping no serious damage has been done, with their first match at the World Cup slated for June 16 against Iran in California.

Before the match, Wood spoke about the long-term impact his knee injury will have on him for the rest of his life.

“It’s a knee injury, it’s going to take years of managing throughout my whole career and when I’m playing with kids, playing golf or doing whatever I do after football,” Wood said.

“It’s going be there. I’d say it’s always got to be in your back of mind that I have to keep myself in top shape ready to go.

“A knee injury is always horrible, you never know what could happen in the future or how you are going to come back from it.

“So mentally, that’s one of the tough things to deal with. But I had confidence I was always going to come back. I got very close to returning pre-surgery and it just didn’t happen. That’s just unfortunate.”

Forest hold a 2-1 aggregate lead at halftime as they close in on their first European semi-final in 40 years.

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.