OFC News

Courtesy FIFA.com: Africa's reigning Women's Footballer of the Year, Alberta Sackey, showed all of her class in claiming a brace to hand the Black Queens of Ghana their first ever FIFA Women's World Cup victory - a 2-1 triumph over Australia at the first USA 2003 match at Portland's PGE Park.

Heather Garriock pulled a second half goal back for the Matildas, but it was not enough for Oceania's respresentatives, who are left bottom of Group D with just a single point. Ghana head home as well, finishing third, but the sweet taste of their first finals victory may sustain them on their way back to Africa.

With Sackey back in the side after failing to start against Russia, the Ghanaians hit out the brighter of the two right from the start. But it was the Matildas who got the first real scoring chance when Garriock fired an 18-yard snapshot straight into Memunatu Sulemana's midsection (3').

The Africans though, continued to press in search of their first goal at these finals. Patience Sackey fired one just over at the back post on the end of a well-flighted corner (8').

Mavis Dgajmah had a great chance to get the Ghanaians on the board when she ran on to a fine through ball from Patience Sackey. As she raced in one-on-one with goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri, she slammed the ball off the crossbar (15'). And just seconds later, Patience Sackey fired a left-footed shot that also splattered off the woodwork after beating the Australian keeper (16').

While the Black Queens continued to throw everything forward, playing their best football of USA 2003, the Matildas were looking to hit out on the counter. Kelly Golebiowski's long ball from midfield picked out Danielle Small, who fired right at Sulemana (28').

Just one minute later, Ghana charged up field and forced Barbieri into two fine saves in quick succession . A fine Alberta Sackey shot from long range was pushed over (29') and then from the resulting corner she did well to hold on to Sackey's driving header (30').

Alberta Sackey finally found the back of the net after taking the ball off of substitute Bryony Duus. Racing forward, she fired a 23-yard cracker past Barbieri to the top corner (1-0, 34').

And the striker grabbed one more after firing a close-range shot straight at Barbieri. The brave Australian keeper got down well to save, but spilled the ball straight back to the African Player of the Year, who made no mistake the second time around to close out the first half scoring (2-0, 39').

The Matildas, knowing they would need a win for survival, threw everything into a frenzied attack. Golebiowski fired a shot from 23 yards early, but it sailed harmlessly over Sulemana's goal (48').

But Garriock raced through to grab her second goal of the finals when Golebiowski picked her out at the far post after a bit of fine individual skill. After a beautiful diagonal ball, the striker smacked the ball on the first touch low and to the far post. Poor Sulemana could do nothing but watch (2-1, 61').

Duus tried a hopeful shot from way out to get the Matildas even and make up for her earlier miscue. But Sulemana did well to smother the shot and keep the Africans on target for their first finals win (71').

Alberta Sackey continued to weave her magic as the half wore on. After a long, mazy run out of midfield, the African fired a wicked shot from 22 yards. But Barbieri did well to grab it at the second attempt (76').

After a few more chances for Ghana, Australia's Golebiowski missed out on a clear opportunity in the dying moments. As the ball slipped past the far post, the Australians must have seen their quarter-final hopes fade into nothing (91').

And, in the end, the scoreline stood and both sides took their final bows at USA 2003 -- but only Ghana had a smile on their faces.

SA RELEASE: The Qantas Matildas secured a credible 1-1 draw with world powerhouse China at the FIFA Women's World Cup in a do-or-die clash in Los Angeles.

Although the point keeps Australia in the race, the result still leaves Australia with an uphill task of qualifying for the quarter finals, and they must beat Ghana by more than one goal and rely on Russia to beat the Chinese in the final group matches on Sunday in Portland.

While it wasn't the result Australia was looking for after its 2-1 defeat in the opening match against Russia, it will do wonders for the morale of the squad, who can look forward to the match against Ghana with a great deal of confidence.

It was a gutsy, backs-to-the-wall effort from the Qantas Matildas and China kept up constant pressure on them in the second half, but captain, Cheryl Salisbury led Australia's defence by example, thwarting every chance China could muster. It was Australia's first draw in World Cup action against a top-four team, and only our second point all-time in the World Cup.

Australia took the field without co-vice-captain Sacha Wainwright, out for the remainder of the tournament. Teenager Karla Reuter made her World Cup debut in a reshuffled lineup in terms of positions played. After a slow start, Australia found itself slowly gaining a little possession, but the favourites would not have expected them to take the lead in the 28th minute.

On the counterattack, Danielle Small sent through a sumptuously weighted ball and Heather Garriock finished in fantastic style low into the far corner of goal despite the challenge of both her marker and the outcoming goalkeeper. The shot itself was almost a carbon copy of that which she had scored against China in the 2000 Pacific Cup.

China then had four great chances to level, Pu Wei sending her attempt skywards from inside the 6-yard box just three minutes after Australia's goal. Then in the 40th minute, Sun Wen was denied by a miraculous save on the goal-line from Salisbury who injured herself in the process by colliding with the post.

Both Pu and Sun then had another chance each before the half-time whistle. Whilst Australia managed to hold out until the break, it took China just a minute to equalise in the second half when a cross from Zhang Ouying was only parried by Cassandra Kell and it fell into the path of the unmarked Bai Jie whose shot evaded Salisbury's attempt at another goal-line save.

For the remainder of the match, China kept up their search for a winner but had few creative ideas on how to break down an impervious wall of Australians, who had learnt their lesson from Russia's late winning goal and threw their bodies on the line to preserve their point.

Salisbury was named the Bud Light Player of the Match for her courageous display. National Coach Adrian Santrac was indeed proud of the team yet aware that the result was not the desired outcome. "I have mixed feelings in a way," he said. "I guess if you look at previous major tournaments, a draw against a top four nation is a good result. But we were looking for the win, for the three points, to ultimately set up the Ghana match to secure the quarterfinals berth. It keeps our chances alive, but our future now also lies in someone else's hands."

Santrac added, "We were up 1-0 at half time and felt we were very much in control in that everything China threw at us we were able to counter.

Then we had the worst possible start to the second half conceding early and China got a huge lift from that. We held our ground as well as we possibly could and in the end achieved a draw. In football, you don't always get what you deserve but what you work for, and that was certainly the case today."

In the earlier Group D match, Russia comfortably defeated Ghana 3-0 to assure them of a quarterfinal berth. The teams travel north to Portland tomorrow in readiness for Sunday's last group matches.

FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP USA 2003

GROUP D second matches

Los Angeles : Thursday 25 September 2003

Result: AUSTRALIA 1 (Heather Garriock 28')

CHINA 1 (Bai Jie 46')

Halftime score: 1-0

Kickoff: 7.00pm

Weather: Fine, 23°C

Pitch condition: Good, although patchy surface

Match Officials: Referee - Katriina Elovirta (FIN), Assistant

Referees - Emilia Parviainen (FIN), Andi Regan (NIR), Fourth Official - Jennifer Bennett (USA)

Attendance: 13,929

AUSTRALIA Lineup: Cassandra Kell (GK), Gillian Foster, Dianne Alagich, Cheryl Salisbury (capt), Rhian Davies, Kelly Golebiowski, Joanne Peters, Heather Garriock, Karla Reuter, Tal Karp, Danielle Small. Unused Substitutes: Bryony Duus, April Mann, Melissa Barbieri (GK), Pamela Grant, Taryn Rockall, Amy Beattie (GK), Amy Wilson, Hayley Crawford. (Sacha Wainwright - unavailable due to injury.)

Cautions: Dianne Alagich 89', Kelly Golebiowski 91+'.

Expulsions: nil

CHINA Lineup: Zhao Yan (GK), Li Jie, Fan Yunjie, Zhao Lihong (Qu Feifei 85'), Bai Jie (Teng Wei 90'), Zhang Ouying (Ren Liping 74'), Sun Wen (capt), Liu Ying, Pu Wei, Liu Yali, Wang Liping. Unused Substitutes: Han Wenxia (GK), Sun Rui, Gao Hongxia, Bi Yan, Han Duan. (Pan Lina - unavailable due to injury).

Cautions: Liu Ying 55'.

Expulsions: nil

The latest FIFA rankings released on 24 September see Australia regain its place at the top of the Oceania hierarchy gaining six places to occupy the 62nd spot. However, they still have a way to go to get back into the top fifty and can do with more similar results to their 2-1 victory over Jamaica last month.

New Zealand fell off the pace losing seven spots to its new ranking of 70, and with it, their brief reign at the top. But a good result in their upcoming AFC-OFC Challenge Cup match against Iran in Tehran on 12 October could see them make up for lost ground.

Tahiti, Fiji and Solomon Islands each went down a slot to occupy 127, 142 and 151 respectively.

Vanuatu the only Oceania nation to make gains this month, rose one place to occupy 155 and are breathing down the necks of the Solomon Islands.

Papua New Guinea remains at seventh position in Oceania despite losing one place to occupy 179 on the latest FIFA ranking. Samoa dropped two spots and is now on 172.

Tonga, Cook Islands and American Samoa remain as they were in August on 182, 188 and 202 respectively.

In other news, Brazil remains the number one on the overall FIFA ranking with France and Spain right behind on second and third respectively. Argentina, Mexico, England, Netherlands, Turkey, Czech Republic (9=), Germany (9=) and the United States round out FIFA's top ten.

Click on the following link on the official FIFA website for more detail on how the OFC countries performed in the latest FIFA ranking.

http://www.fifa.com/en/rank/results,ofc.html

FIFA.com - The Russians left it late to down brave Australia 1-2 on 21 September in Carson, California. After slamming a second-half penalty off the crossbar, Elena Fomina unleashed a right-footed blast in minute 89 that took a cruel deflection and nestled in the back of the net to settle the Group D clash.

On a hot evening just outside of Los Angeles, the Australians can consider themselves unlucky indeed as they played the Russians evenly for most of the match. Kelly Golebiowski gave the OCEANIA representatives the lead, but saw it disintegrate just 60 seconds later when Dianne Alagich steered the ball woefully into her own net. And the late Russian strike damned the courageous Matildas to yet another FIFA Women's World Cup loss.

The Russians earned a 1-1 draw with Australia in a bruising Group D encounter with Australia without ever having scored a goal of their own in Carson, California on 21 September. Only 60 seconds after Kelly Golebiowski opened the scoring for the Matildas, defender Diane Alagich steered the ball woefully into her own goal. A missed penalty from Russia's Elena Fomina in the second half had the two sides settling for a point apiece.

On a warm evening just outside of Los Angeles, the first draw of USA 2003 never truly settled into any sort of rhythm. Both sides will have to be happy with a one-point start at the finals.

Australia began brightly but without really penetrating. Joanne Peters, in particular, was showing some neat touches in the centre of the park and the Matildas looked determined to get their first victory in the competition's history.

However chances were at a premium in the opening half an hour and instead an interesting battle for midfield dominance was being played out to determine who would come out on top between the two well-matched teams.

Peters almost played the impressive Heather Garriock in for Australia but she took one touch too heavy (26'). At the other end, Natalia Barbachina was played through but she pulled her shot, from the right edge of the box, well wide (27').

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere Australia had the ball in the net. Rhian Davies clipped the ball through to Danielle Small who controlled instantly before striking the post with her second touch. The rebound fell to Kelly Golebiowski to gratefully tuck into the unguarded net (1-0, 38').

Less than 60 seconds later and Russia were level in the most unfortunate fashion. Marina Saenko whipped in a right-sided free kick and defender Dianne Alagich miss-hit her clearance past Cassandra Kell and into her own net (1-1, 39').

Having earlier struck a 40-yarder just over the bar, the Russian defender was proving to be a master of dead-ball situations and she forced Kell into a fine tip-over save just before half-time after another super strike from fully 35 yards (44').

Saenko started the second half where she had left off in the first by hitting a stunning 22-yard free kick that Kell spectacularly fingertipped over (47').

Strangely, the second half was taking the same form as the opening period with neither team really getting on top. Barbachina was isolated alone in attack for Yuri Bystritsky's girls while, despite the elegance of Peters and good movement from Garriock and Golebiowski up front, the Matildas were finding it difficult to break down the Russian back line.

The Europeans should have taken the lead when Barbachina's shirt was tugged by Tai Karp just inside the area. Elena Fomina sent the keeper the wrong way with the penalty but it struck the crossbar instead of bulging the net (72').

Australia kept giving away free kicks in dangerous positions and from another, this time from Barbachina, Kell saved well low down to her right (73').

The teams were noticeably tiring as the game entered its final stages and more chances were being created. Golebiowski's chip was saved by Alia Volkova (82'), then Fomina tried to make up for her penalty miss by walking through the Australian defence but she took one touch too many (83').

Russia almost won it in the last minute when the dangerous Barbachina was played through on goal, took the ball round the keeper but seemed to lose her footing at the crucial moment (89').

Seconds later they did win it. Fomina, who had earlier missed the penalty, picked up possession 30 yards out, took two steps forward and belted a stinging shot that took a deflection off the knee of Matildas' captain Cheryl Salisbury before finding the corner of the net (1-2, 89').

Garriock came close to equalising with a 20-yard drive of her own in the dying seconds but there was no way back for the unlucky Australians (90').

"We were a bit nervous at the beginning," said Russian coach Yuri Bystritsky after the match. "But we finally got into our stride towards the end of the match. The three points now stands us in good stead for a place in the quarter-finals"

Australia coach Adrian Santrac was pleased with the performance but disappointed with the result.

"We played with a lot of heart and dominated possession but they sat back and absorbed it and then hit us on the break." "

The September edition of The Wave, the OFC's official publication, can now be read online. Just click on The Wave link on the homepage of the OFC website and check out the latest news and features in football from the Oceania region.

KUALA LUMPUR, 12 September 2003: The AFC-OFC Challenge Cup 2003 between Iran and New Zealand has been confirmed for Sunday, 12th October 2003 at the magnificent 100,000 plus capacity Azadi Stadium in Tehran, kick-off at 1535hrs, local time.

The match was to have been played on a home and away basis back in March and April, but was postponed due to the conflict in the Middle East earlier this year. Next month's game will be played on a one-off basis in Tehran, as was the case in 2001 when the first Cup match was played between Japan and Australia.

The AFC-OFC Challenge Cup sees the winners of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup or Asian Games; meet the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Nations Cup champions on a biennial basis.

Iran won the Asian Games in 2002, beating Korea Republic in last year's event in Busan. New Zealand gained the right to represent the OFC after beating Australia 1-0 in the final of the OFC Nations Cup in Auckland in July 2002.

Iran and New Zealand have met just twice in the past. The first was in 1973 when the match ended in a 0-0 draw in Auckland, while the second was five years later in the Korea Republic, with Iran winning the 1978 President's Cup match 2-1.

AFC General Secretary Dato' Peter Velappan, speaking yesterday from Kuala Lumpur, said that a match of high quality was in store for the Iranian fans.

"Iran, with its passionate supporters, is in for a treat as Oceania's football is on the rise, and New Zealand has some very good players. We are confident that our team (Iran) will rise to the challenge and provide an excellent stage for sportsmanship between AFC and OFC," he said.

OFC Acting President, Tautulu Roebeck, said today he looked forward to the match and working more closely with the AFC in the near future.

"The AFC-OFC Challenge Cup provides an excellent opportunity for exposure to quality international competition which our teams lack and we hope to expand on this in the coming years," he said.

The AFC-OFC Challenge Cup was launched in 2001, with an inaugural event that cemented the strong friendship between the AFC and the OFC. Japan played host to OFC Nations Cup winners, Australia, at the beautiful Shizuoka Stadium. Approximately 46,000 home fans were there to see the Japan national team win 3-0 over a top class Australian side. Fostering closer relations and providing teams with valuable international experience, this second edition of the event promises to be as exciting as the inaugural match.

Auckland 8 September 2003: The Oceania Football Confederation held an extraordinary congress at the Carlton Hotel in Auckland last Saturday, 6 September, 2003, where OFC president, Basil Scarsella, resigned from his post effectively after a majority 12-10 vote by the members.

The senior vice president, Tautulu Roebeck of Samoa, will now serve as acting president until the ordinary OFC congress, which the executive committee at its meeting held following the extraordinary congress, confirmed will be held on 24 April, 2004.

The membership also considered a change to the post of OFC Delegate to the FIFA executive committee. A motion to replace the current representative, `Ahongalu Fusimalohi, of Tonga was successful but subsequently challenged with further legal clarification now being sought on the matter.

The members will officially elect a new president and OFC delegate to the FIFA executive committee at next year's OFC ordinary congress.

Acting president, Tautulu Roebeck, paid tribute to Scarsella for the work he had done since assuming the presidency in December, 2000, and vowed to steer the OFC forward under his leadership during the interim period until the presidency post is officially filled next April.

"Our priority now is to move forward as a united organisation with a renewed vigour," Roebeck stated today.

"It is business as usual for the OFC. The recent events have not changed our focus on developing the game and I will ensure that operations continue to run smoothly."

Roebeck reiterated that he will work closely with the executive committee and FIFA to ensure pertinent matters such as World Cup qualification are addressed and resolved.

"We will be directing our efforts on ensuring the Oceania champion will have the best possible pathway to the FIFA World Cup in 2006, Roebeck added.

"There are several priority targets that have been set which we have yet to achieve and I am confident we can reach them if we all work together for the good of the game. Differences must be put aside if our Confederation is to be treated as equals and with more respect in the football world."

He also described recent comments and reports in the media claiming the OFC will be in a worse position under the helm of a Pacific Islander as unfair and unfounded.

"Unfortunately, the coverage received by the Pacific Island members has largely been negative and questions have been asked of our ability to lead, but I would like to assure the stakeholders in the region that this is untrue and one should not be so quick to judge considering a Pacific Islander has never occupied the leadership of OFC in an official capacity," Roebeck remarked.

"Should a Pacific Islander be elected next year, we ask that he be supported wholeheartedly and judged according to his actions."

Auckland, 2 Sep 2003: OFC Nations Cup champion, New Zealand, has been confirmed to play Iran for the AFC/OFC Challenge Cup in Tehran on 12 October. The match was originally scheduled back in March/April as a two-match home and away series, but this was not possible due to the situation in the Middle East at the time.

The Cup will now be contested under the original format as a one-off fixture. This format was used when the AFC/OFC Challenge Cup was first played for in 2001 with Japan the inaugural winner after beating Australia, 3-0, at home in a one-off match.

New Zealand Soccer confirmed today it will name a squad of 18 traveling players within the next two weeks.

The AFC/OFC Challenge Cup will continue to be a regular fixture every two years. The winner of the OFC Nations Cup will represent Oceania at future tournaments, while the Asian representative will alternate between the winner of the Asian Cup and the winner of the Asian Games. Iran is the current Asian Games champion, while Japan was the Asian Cup champion last year.

The latest FIFA Women's ranking sees Australia remain at 15th place ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup which kicks off on 20 September. Australia will represent the OFC at the flagship event for women's football hosted this time in the USA after the SARS threat in Asia caused the tournament to be shifted there from China earlier in the year.

New Zealand are knocking on the door of the top twenty and are ranked 21st, just one place behind Finland and one ahead of Chinese Taipei. Tonga is the surprisingly the next highest ranked nation in the OFC after being given a provisional ranking of 54. Papua New Guinea, the gold medalists from the recent South Pacific Games are ranked 59. Fiji, Vanuatu, Tahiti and the Cook Islands are all provisionally ranked on 70, 84, 95 and 96 respectively. Samoa dropped five places to 99 after being ranked 94 in the last rankings.

The next FIFA Women's World Ranking will be released on 24 October 2003.

To see the full rankings, visit the FIFA website on www.fifa.com or click on the FIFA link on the homepage.

The latest FIFA rankings released on 27 August 2003 sees frontrunners Australia and New Zealand lose more ground plummeting further away from the enviable top fifty. New Zealand leads all OFC nations in 63rd place despite dropping three places from the previous rankings in July.

Australia is not far behind on 68 dropping five places. Tahiti remained on 126 with Fiji dropping one to 141. Solomon Islands make a one place gain to 150 while Vanuatu remains steady on 156, 11 places above Papua New Guinea, which gained one to occupy 167. Samoa remained on 170, as did Tonga on 182 and the Cook Islands on 188 and American Samoa on 202.

The next FIFA ranking will be released on 24 September 2003.

To see the full rankings, visit the FIFA website on www.fifa.com or click on the FIFA link on the homepage.