From its very inception, the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup New Zealand 2008 has been about a great deal more than showcasing the game's best emerging female talent. At its heart has been securing a legacy for the Host Nation that provides a sustained boost to football - and women's football in particular - in a country traditionally dominated by the oval ball.

On Thursday, with the showpiece event now just three weeks away, the bid to guarantee this legacy will move up a gear with the commencement of an Official FIFA Ambassadors Tour of six New Zealand cities. The three ambassadors in question - Michele Cox, Carolina Morace and Wynton Rufer - are to spend a fortnight visiting schools, clubs, tertiary institutions and community events across the country to outline and reinforce the appeal of the beautiful game.

All will deliver practical sessions for coaches at both elite and grassroots levels as well as presentations on their respective careers in football, and this trio certainly have inspirational stories to tell. Morace, for example, is a legendary former Italy player and coach who made history by becoming the first and, to date, only woman in history to coach a men's professional team.

"I am very excited about coming to New Zealand," said the former Viterbese boss. "I hope that I can help to promote what will be a wonderful event and also contribute to the development of women's football and football in general in a nation that obviously has a lot of sporting talent."

Rufer, meanwhile, is renowned as the greatest footballer in New Zealand's history; indeed he was named FIFA's Oceania Footballer of the Century, recognising a glorious career with the likes of Werder Bremen, Kaiserlautern and FC Zurich. As for Cox, she is the woman who, as 'bid chief', did more than anyone to bring the first-ever FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup to Kiwi soil, her latest contribution to a nation she has served with distinction as player and administrator.

For Cox, whose patriotism is only matched by her passion for football, the opportunity to take the beautiful game on tour round New Zealand promises to be a labour of love. As she told FIFA.com: "It will be a fantastic opportunity not only to help promote the upcoming tournament in its final countdown weeks, but also to develop the women's game and the game in general with the knowledge, experience and passion of two absolute legends in the game - Carolina and Wynton.

"I really hope that we can inspire more children and adults alike to get involved in the beautiful game and to see just what can be achieved, regardless of what level you are at as a coach, player, volunteer or administrator. There is really something for everyone in football and our combined experiences after retiring from international football show that."

The Ambassadors tour will take in all four FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Host Cities, plus Dunedin and Napier, with the programme as follows;

Auckland - 9 (media day), 22-24 October
Dunedin - 10, 11 October
Christchurch - 12-14 October
Wellington - 15-17 October
Napier - 18, 19 October
Hamilton - 20, 21 October 

Story and photo courtesy of FIFA Media. For more information visit www.fifa.com 

An official FIFA Ambassadors Tour of six New Zealand cities will kick off on Thursday 9 October 2008, just three weeks ahead of the start of the first-ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, with the aim of boosting football, and particularly women’s football, in the country.

Throughout the tour, which takes in all four FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Host Cities as well as Dunedin and Napier, the ambassadors - Michele Cox, Carolina Morace and Wynton Rufer - will spend a two weeks visiting schools, clubs, tertiary institutions and community events across New Zealand to outline and reinforce the appeal of the beautiful game.

The programme of the Ambassadors tour is as follows:

Auckland:         9 (media day), 22-24 October

Dunedin:           10, 11 October

Christchurch:     12-14 October

Wellington:        15-17 October

Napier:             18-19 October

Hamilton:          20,21 October

For more information on the FIFA Ambassadors Tour please see:

English:

http://www.fifa.com/u17womensworldcup/news/newsid=901035.html#legacy+ambassadors+tour

Spanish:

http://es.fifa.com/u17womensworldcup/news/newsid=901334.html#la+gira+embajadores+busca+dejar+legado

French:

http://fr.fifa.com/u17womensworldcup/news/newsid=901224.html#precher+ballon+rond+ovalie

German:

http://de.fifa.com/u17womensworldcup/news/newsid=901143.html#fifa+botschafter+bleibendes+vermachtnis

 

 

TAHITI - AS Dragon continued to apply pressure on Tefana and Pirae in Tahiti's Championnat D1 after a comfortable 3-1 win over AS Vaiete last night. The win keeps Dragon in third place behind Pirae on goal difference with AS Tefana two points clear in top spot.

A four point gap has opened up between the three leading clubs with Tamarii Faaa propelled into fourth place after they handed a demoralised JT a 4-2 defeat in D1's other match also played last night. It was JT's third consecutive loss.

The next round of matches throw up some intriguing scenarios with AS Pirae set to face Tahiti U-20, AS Tefana hosting Tamarii Faaa at Stade Puurai. Coupe de L'Outre-Mer campaigners, AS Manu Ura, return to domestic action against TAC, while the two promoted clubs AS Vaiete and Excelsior meet in what will be a "must win" encounter. Hapless JT will meet the in-form AS Dragon and will have to rediscover form if they hope to avoid another heavy defeat.

Round five will be the first full programme of fixtures completed in three weeks.

Championnat D1 Standings – 07.10.08

Win = 4 points; Draw = 2 points; Loss = 1 point 

Championnat D1 

Results – 07.10.08 

AS Dragon vs. AS Vaiete          3-1

Tamarii Faaa vs. JT                   4-2

AS Manu Ura vs. Tahiti U-20       P-P

The Solomon Islands finished up their FIFA Futsal World Cup - Brazil 2008, campaign today after losing their final match to Russia 31-2 at the Gimnasio Nilson Nelson stadium in Brasil.

Russia's victory, infront of a crowd of 5508,  set a new record for the FIFA Futsal World Cup, beating Brazil's 29-2 goal thrashing of Guatemala eight years ago. In doing so, it was also the match which provided the most goals in the tournament's history.

Pula, the Russian No7, who grabbed a hat-trick of hat-tricks during the match has also become the record goalscorer in one FIFA Futsal World Cup match. His record came in the 28th of the match to put his side 24-1 up.

Yet, despite all of the Russian goals, the loudest cheers were reserved for Jack Wetney and Micah Lea'alafa who grabbed the two consolation strikes for the Solomon Islands in the 23rd and 28th minutes respectively.

History was made ten minutes later when Nikolay Pereverzev slotted home to break the record. Ironically in a game which saw four players score four goals or more, it was his first and only goal of the match.

A total of 69 per cent of Russia's shots on goal found their way past the Solomons' unfortunate keeper Alick Lioka and they now return to Oceania with no points from their four games, having conceded 69 goals, an average of 17.25 per game.

Solomon Island coach Victor Wai'ia summed up his sides tournament with emphasis on the valuable experience gained by playing against the worlds best. 

"Just being part of this World Cup has been a fantastic experience, because we’ve played such strong opponents. My team didn’t play well in the first half today, but we were better after the break," Wai;ia said.

FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008

Group A Results:

30/09      Brazil 12       Japan 1

30/09      Cuba 10       Solomon Islands 2

02/10      Solomon Islands 0   Brazil 21

02/10      Russia 10          Cuba 5

04/10      Brazil 7             Russia 0

04/10      Japan 7            Solomon Island 2

06/10      Japan 4            Cuba 1

06/10      Russia 31          Solomon Islands 2

For full list of results and stats visit www.fifa.com

Group A Standings:

Photos provided by FIFA Media. For more visit www.fifa.com

As the Solomon Island Futsal side navigate their way through a tough group in their first ever FIFA World Cup Futsal tournament, Solomon Island journalist James Ruhfus is on location to give an indepth report on the teams performance.

Solomon Kurukuru's 2–7 loss to Japan today in Honiara was one of mixed emotions. The unquestionable high was the half-time score of 2–3 against a quality opponent at the highest level; the young side, battered by Brazil only two days earlier played as well as they ever have.

The lows included a serious ankle injury to captain Elliot Ragomo and not being able to sustain their 'A' game over the full contest. Still, as numerous commentators in Brazil have noted, this is a team with talent that plays the game in the right spirit. It is not a matter of 'if' but 'when' their full potential is reached and they start to challenge quality opponents.

Japan started the game on the front foot and soon found themselves three goals ahead after goals to Kanayama, Kogure and Komiyaya. The Solomon team though soon found its stride and began to play some expansive counter-attacking Futsal. Ragomo, along with Jack Wetney, led from the front and brought the crowd to their feet on a number occasions with foot-skills that their heroes from Brazil would be pleased to possess. After many close chances, Ragomo baffled the Japanese defenders close to their goal, which led to Maeda hurried attempt to clear the ball end up in his won goal.

A minute later Ron Ginio finished off some Wetney magic, knocking the ball in at the back post after the Kurukuru finessed the ball past two Japanese defenders got a clear shot. It was off-target, but Ginio was in the right place at the right time and got what he had been hoping for since arriving in Brazil.

'It was like unbelievable; a dream come true,' said Ginio, 'I didn't score a goal in OFC World Cup qualifying tournament and my aim was to at least score a goal in the World Cup, so it's just amazing.'

It was an upbeat Kurukuru dressing room at half-time as the boys took advice from coach Victor Wai'ia and Technical Advisor Scott Gilligan. Their two late goals had given them the ascendancy and there was a feeling that if Solomon Islands could keep it up a major upset loomed.

Japan though held strong and unanswered goals to Fujii and Osodo effectively put he game out of Kurukuru's reach. Any chance of a comeback was further hampered by Ragomo's injury. In what was his best match of the tournament, the sight of him being carried off the court on a stretcher was a sad sight for the Kurukuru faithful. He was taken to a nearby hospital for a precautionary X-Ray, but is confident of playing on Monday against Russia.

'Today's game was a tough one for the boys,' said coach Wai'ia, 'but they proved today that they can play. They have confidence and they have learnt a lot of things from this game too. We should have ulitised all of our chances, but so far they play to their best and that's the wonderful thing about it. And they had a lot of fun too. Now I think we'll keep things going, we have one game left, we'll keep continuing to work on our defence and our finishing.'

The already-daunting prospect of facing Russia will be made all the more difficult for Kurukuru with Ragomo not 100% fit, first-choice goalkeeper Junior Lioka on the injured list and James Egeta, who conceded a second yellow card for the tournament, suspended. The three are usually starters for Kurukuru, but Moffat Sikwa'ae, who captained Solomon Islands in Ragomo's absence, believes that the team will respond to the challenge 'if we work to together as a team we will be able to do it. I look forward to the next game, we must try to win it; anything is possible,' he said.

AUCKLAND - The prospect of New Zealand hosting future FIFA World Cup tournaments is looking promising after an announcement today that the Government will invest $1.5 million into the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

This investment is a contribution to the $11.8 million tournament which will be held in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch between 28 October and 16 November.

Prime Minister Helen Clark made the announcement at the FIFA Volunteer Training Day at Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium and said the contribution will boost New Zealand’s reputation as a desirable destination for hosting such events.

“By successfully hosting this FIFA World Cup, New Zealand will be well-positioned to bid for other FIFA events. This experience also helps us build the event management capability we need to manage major events," Helen Clark said.

The funding, from the Major Events Development Fund administered by the Ministry of Economic Development, has been welcomed by New Zealand Football Chairman and President of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Local Organising Committee Frank van Hattum.

“The continued and increasing support of the New Zealand Government through SPARC and New Zealand Major Events is crucial to the game’s success,” Frank van Hattum said.

“The watching eyes of the football world will see New Zealand’s ability to host world-class events includes tournaments from the realm of the world’s biggest sport, and that can do our chances of hosting future FIFA events in this part of the world no harm.”

The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will be one of the biggest women’s sporting events ever to take place in New Zealand. Powered by 1200 volunteers, the tournament will attract around 2500 international visitors and with more than 150 territories holding the broadcasting rights, the estimated television audience is around 125 million.

The tournament kicks off on Tuesday 28 October when hosts New Zealand play Canada in the opening match at North Harbour Stadium.

Story and photographs courtesy www.nzsoccer.com

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark with FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup volunteers