His record-breaking strike against Fiji had been a long time coming for All Whites kingpin Chris Wood.
In the 73rd minute of their Oceania World Cup qualifying tie, the Newcastle United striker steered a well-weighted pass beyond goalkeeper Mohammed Alam to become the leading goalscorer in All Whites history, surpassing Vaughan Coveny's mark of 29.
His brace also helped the All Whites complete a 4-0 rout of the Fijians at Doha, securing a semi-final berth at the tournament.
"It means a lot," says Wood, who was able to leave his Premier League side earlier than expected to join the All Whites squad.
"It's something that I've sought for a very long time. I had a dream as a kid trying to get to it, so to break it is fantastic.
"Hopefully, I can add a few more goals to it over the course of my career."
Wood admits to a sense of relief in putting it behind him and moving forward in his side's quest to complete the first stage of their World Cup dream.
"To be fair, it's only in the last few windows that it's started to get closer. I was more hopeful it could be done sooner rather than later.
"You just want to get here, so it's nice to have that ticked off.
"It'll be something I can look back on when I finish my career, but there's still a lot more to achieve."
The next goal (pardon the pun) on Wood's list - breaking Ivan Vicelich's mark of 88 international appearances for the All Whites. He currently sits at 62.
"He's next on my target list," he says, with a grin. "But it's all about the team and winning the game at this point in time, especially in a competition like this.
"It's not about the goals, it's about qualifying and pushing forward as a team."
He's also some distance off the overall New Zealand record for international goals, which is held by former Football Fern striker Amber Hearn (54).
The 30-year-old may have added a couple more to his total, if not for some uncharacteristically inaccurate finishing inside the box.
"We definitely need to be a bit more clinical, but that's the sign of a squad improving slowly," he says. "Another clean sheet, which is great, but those of us up front - including myself - need to start taking chances better, because they're not going to come as freely when you hit the semi-finals and final."
While coach Danny Hay agrees, he's pleased with the improvement his side has shown, after a relatively lacklustre 1-0 win over Papua New Guinea in their opening game.
"I think we took another step towards where we think we can get to in terms of quality of football," Hay notes. "I thought we opened Fiji up at will at times.
"Some of the movement, quality of passing was really good. Obviously, we would like to have been a little more clinical, particularly in that first half.
"Is it perfect at this point? No, but hopefully we're going to peak in the semi-final and final."
With their place in the semi-final booked, Hay now has the luxury of resting some key players for their final Group B match against New Caledonia on Friday.
