Football: How Samoan rugby amateurs had to stop Kiwi Premier League star Chris Wood

The Samoan rugby amateurs who had to stop Kiwi Premier League star Chris Wood

New Zealand and Newcastle United star Chris Wood scored a hat-trick against Samoa in a World Cup qualifier in Qatar

Samoan rugby amateurs had to fill in for the country's football team in a World Cup qualifier against New Zealand so that the professional footballers could play for their clubs.

The match was played in Qatar on Thursday and New Zealand won 7-1, with Newcastle United striker Chris Wood scoring a hat-trick.

Samoa's regular football team is made up of semi-professional and amateur players, but they were unable to travel to Qatar because of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

The Samoa Rugby Union stepped in to help and they provided 10 players to fill out the squad.

The players had to quickly learn the rules of football and they were outclassed by New Zealand, who are ranked 121st in the world, 106 places above Samoa.

Despite the heavy defeat, the Samoan players said they were proud to represent their country.

"It was a great experience," said one of the players, who asked not to be named.

"We knew we were going to be up against it, but we gave it our all."

The match was a reminder of the challenges faced by smaller football nations.

Samoa is a small country with a population of just 200,000 people and they have limited resources to develop football.

Despite the challenges, Samoa is determined to improve their football and they hope to qualify for the World Cup one day.

"We're a small country, but we have big dreams," said Samoa Football Federation president Papali'i Pese. "We want to qualify for the World Cup and we're going to keep working hard until we achieve our goal."