Kamal Hassan was the toast of Suva tonight as his two late goals propelled Fiji to a 4-2 win over New Caledonia in the final game of the OFC Futsal Championships on match day one.

The match was very evenly balanced with both sides making a cautious start, feeling each other out. 

Alexandre Rosso opened the scoring for New Caledonia in the fifth minute after some creative link up play through the midfield.

Five minutes later Sandeep Sanjesh Nair equalised for Fiji and brought to life the 1000 strong crowd who screamed with anticipation whenever Fiji got near the goal.

New Caledonia missed their chance to regain the lead after Fiji goalkeeper Azmat Begg took out Yvan Pourouro and Jean Philippe Wemama missed the resulting penalty kick.

Fiji made them pay three minutes before halftime when Nayzal Siga Ali finished off a slick move tapping home from inside the box .

Albert Hnailolo equalised for New Caledonia with three minutes remaining and both sides looked comfortable with a hard fought point from their first endeavour.

But Hassan had other plans and two goals within the space of a minute produced a roaring ovation from the Fiji fans and locked up a valuable three points for the Fijian side.

Fiji Coach Imtiaz Khan was delighted with the result and said he was not happy to settle for a draw after New Caledonia equalised.

"This is what we have been waiting for," said Khan. "This win is dedicated to the players and it's a really good win.

"I am 100 percent sure we will do better in our next game and I noticed some tired legs out there who will benefit from our bye tomorrow."

We have Solomon Islands next and it will be a very tough test. I think our approach is at 70 percent at the moment and to beat them this will need to improve."

New Caledonia coach Eric Michalak said that it was difficult to be happy after losing a game late like that.

"I think the two teams were very even, and for the first time we partcipate in Futsal it was a good performance.

"We need more movement and to improve our finishing, but that will come with time."

Photos by Marc Peretic Wilson

NCL: 1. Euzen RONAN (GK); 3. Rosso ALEXANDRE; 4. Hnailolo ALBERT; 5. Iaruel JERRY; 7.Muraccioli EDOUARD;

SUBS: 2. Wemama JEAN PHILIPPE; 6. Maglia BENOIT; 8. Pourouoro YVAN; 9. Garin YOAN; 10. Gino Rene MARCIAS; 11. Guillemin STEVENS; 16. Gayon RONALD;

Coach: Michalak ERIC (NCL)

Goals: 3. Rosso ALEXANDRE; 4. Hnailolo Albert;

FIJ: 1. Azmat BEGG (GK); 2. Mira SAHIB; 4. Alvin AVINESH; 5. Nayzal Siga Ali; 9. Kamal HASSAN;

SUBS: 3. Sandeep Sanjesh NAIR; 6. Assis CHAND; 7. Vikash PRASAD; 8. Muni Arvindra NAIDU; 10. Dinesh Chand MUDALIAR; 11. Imtiaz BEGG; 12. Nishad Wasim ALI (RGK)

Coach: Imtiaz KHAN (FIJ)

Goals: 3. Sandeep Sanjesh NAIR; 5. Nayzal Siga ALI;9. Kamal HASSAN 2;

Referee: Chris COLLEY (AUS)

2nd Referee: Scott KIDSON (AUS)

3rd Referee: Peter L. PAKOATONG (VAN)

Timekeeper: Allan ALICK (VAN)

Referee’s Assessor: Neil POLOSO (SOL)

The evening of Sunday 1 June 2008 sees the largest women's football event New Zealand has ever hosted make it's much-anticipated arrival, with the lavish draw ceremony being held at Te Papa - New Zealand's national museum.

Once greeted by a traditional Maori 'powhiri' (welcome ceremony), dignitaries from all FIFA confederations congregated in the majestic Soundings Theatre for the draw ceremony.

With the selection processes complete, OFC Media can confirm the [unofficial] FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup - New Zealand 2008 draw, as follows:

GROUP A

A1 - New Zealand

A2 - (CONCACAF A)

A3 - Denmark

A4 - Columbia

GROUP B

B1 - (CONCACAF B)

B2 - Germany

B3 - Korea DPR

B4 - (CAF B)

GROUP C

C1 - Japan

C2 - (CONCACAF 1)

C3 - France

C4 - Paraguay

GROUP D

D1 - Brazil

D2 - England

D3 - Korea Republic

D4 - (CAF A)

*qualifiers from CAF and CONCACAF are not yet established

For further FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup - New Zealand 2008 news coverage please return to www.oceaniafootball.com, visit www.fifa.com, or www.nzfootball.co.nz

"A memory that will last a lifetime, just an amazing experience."

That is how Wellington Phoenix and All White striker Vaughn Coveny described his experiences in the Christian Karembeu Jubilee match last night at Stade Numa Daly in New Caledonia.

Coveny was one of five players selected from Oceania to partake in the celebratory match against the World Cup Winning France '98 side.

Coveny was joined by Keryn Jordan (Auckland City), Fred De Jong (New Zealand), Gideon Omokirio (Solomon Islands) ,and Moise Poida (Vanuatu) in the sold out match against world famous stars like Zinedine Zidane, Robert Pires, Bixen Lizarazu, Christian Karembeu, Laurent Blanc and more. 

The opening ceremony featured the presentation of medals to the OFC Youth Festival Champions Flying Arrows Ba from Fiji by OFC President Reynald Temarii.

The 20 teams from nine different countries were all in attendance to see the worlds best mix with some stars from their native countries.

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter was on hand to welcome the players onto the field and show his appreciation of all Karembeu has done for football in Oceania.

The sold out crowd of 10,000 shot the sound through the roof when they caught their first glimpse of Zidane and the France '98 side warming up.

France '98 put on a masterclass when the match kicked off storming out to a four goal lead courtesy of a Robert Pires hat trick and a strike from Youri Djorkaeff.

Karembeu and Zidane controlled the midfield in a way that would suggest they could still play at the very top level and the Oceania players were visibly excited about playing against old masters of the game.

"It was an emotional night for me," said Jordan. "It's not every day you get to play against the very best in the world."

Coveny looked the most likely to  score for the Karembeu X1 in the first half but the France '98 defence still had the legs to stick with the pacey striker and prevented him getting any clear sights of goal.

The second half opened up completely and goals to Robert Pires and Zinedine Zidane were met with loud roars from the Noumea fans.

Veteran All White striker Fred De Jong went close with an acrobatic bicycle kick which just zipped past the post and would have made for a real collectors item.

But the loudest cheer of the night went to Christian Karembeu who slotted home a late penalty to give the Karembeu X1 a consolation goal and a night to remember.

Karembeu finished the night by thanking the large crowd from his birth country and joining in a native dance with his fellow countrymen.

photos by Marc Peretic Wilson

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter touched down in Noumea today for a whirlwind two day visit which will mark his first trip to New Caledonia.

Blatters arrival coincided with the launch of the FIFA Goal Project in Paeta, the final of the OFC Youth Festival and the Christian Karembeu Jubilee match against the World Cup Winning France ’98 side.

Blatter will attend the match and hold a post-match press conference following the OFC Extraordinary Congress on Sunday June 1 2008.

Blatter will then fly direct to Wellington where he will be involved with the draw for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.

The FIFA Goal project was a huge sucess in Paeta with a large crowd on hand to welcome in the new program.

It is Blatters first visit to New Caledonia and he will be accompanied by FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke and OFC President/FIFA Vice-President Reynald Temarii.

It is a very exciting time for New Caledonia football fans and tonight’s Jubilee match featuring some of the biggest names in world football has been sold out for months in advance.

Photos by Marc Peretic Wilson

Joseph S. Blatter held a round table with journalists from the main press agencies on 7 May 2008. Ahead of the forthcoming FIFA Congress (29-30 May 2008), the FIFA President explained why in his opinion the so-called '6+5' rule, which will be discussed at the Congress, is crucial to the future of football.

Read on to see what the president of world football's governing body had to say...

On the '6+5' rule and other topics for discussion at the Congress

The '6+5' rule will be one of the subjects discussed at the FIFA Congress. It represents the extension of a series of measures taken by FIFA at the May 2007 Congress and finalised by the Executive Committee in October and whose aims are to protect minors, protect youth training, adapt the transfer system to today's realities and ensure tighter control over the actions of players' agents. Moreover, we will also discuss another "related" problem at the Congress - that of players taking on other nationalities. At the moment, after a two-year period a player can receive nationality from another country. Based on the misuse of this system that we have already seen, we want to increase this period to five years. If we do not, I would not be surprised if in 2014, half the players in the World Cup were of Brazilian origin...

On the aims of the '6+5' rule

We need to ask supporters around the world the following questions: are you in favour of a strong national team? Are you in favour of national team players playing for the top clubs in your country's league? Are you in favour of youth players being trained and then getting access to the first team at their original club? Do you want players who have come through the youth system at a club to sign their first pro contact with that club? If you answer "yes" to all these questions, then like me you are in favour of the '6+5' rule.

On the compatibility of the '6+5' rule with European laws

Contrary to what may have been said, the '6+5' rule does not contravene the European Labour Law on the freedom of movement. Clubs will still be free to take on as many foreign players as they want. When a match kicks off however, they will have to have six players on the pitch who are eligible for the national team of the country in question. Furthermore, the '6+5' rule supports another European Law, namely regarding having the broadest and fairest possible competition and restricting the concentration of finances and economic monopolies. This is the direction that football is going in. In the five main European championships at the moment, four-fifths of the teams are battling to avoid relegation to a lower division. This is not a sign that football is in good health. It is the proof that a minority of clubs control everything - money, players and means.

We are not trying to defy the laws that are in place. We have to struggle all year round against governmental interference in the affairs of Member Associations so we are not about to start interfering ourselves! Having said that, if we do not intervene, the fairness of the sport will be further endangered and identification with national teams is going to disappear. In the end it will all be down to money, there will be no more sporting competition or local or regional sentiment.

On the various stages of implementation of the '6+5' rule

I am going to make a suggestion to the Congress and ask the FIFA members for a mandate. I hope that they will give me this mandate so that we can start discussions with everybody involved in football - the leagues, the players, the national associations and the clubs - as well as those from the political scene - notably the European Union and the governments. I will of course be accompanied by UEFA President Michel Platini in my dealings with the European Union.

On the measures proposed by UEFA

The 4+4 or 'home-grown rule' proposed by UEFA has one major shortcoming - it does not protect players who are eligible for the national team of the club in question. Under this system, the richest clubs would merely have to buy players at an even younger age than they are currently doing. Michel Platini is in favour of the '6+5' system, he just thinks that it will be difficult to implement. But we have a lot of support. Many of our member associations have come out in favour of it as have famous players and coaches such as Gianfranco Zola, Roy Keane, Alex Ferguson, Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer.

Personally, I am convinced that it is far from impossible to solve the problem. The figures from the five main European championships (Germany, England, Spain, France and Italy) are not that far away from '6+5'. 43% of squads are made up of players who are not eligible. England and Germany are the only ones who are above 50%. Of course, rich clubs will always be able to buy the best players in the country. We are not fighting over money, we are fighting to keep a minimum of local, regional or national identity. We are fighting for youth training and this goes all the way up to the national teams. Rich clubs will stay rich but those less well off will stand a chance, that's all we ask for.

On the solidarity created by the '6+5' rule

Let's be honest: the Champions League is the biggest league in the world, but 80 per cent of the income it generates goes directly to the 32 participating clubs, and even more to the clubs who progress further in the competition. This season has been symptomatic. There were three English clubs in the semi-finals and two in the final, who will get even more money. Europe cannot carry on being so selfish. We need to have solidarity and to help others in order to maintain a balance in football. Europe looks after its rich clubs well but needs to look after those that are less well off. The '6+5' rule will redress the balance in sporting terms and I can guarantee that continents like South America and Africa are behind us on this, as they are the suppliers for the big European clubs and they are suffering from the exodus of their players. The President of the CAF Issa Hayatou for example defended the '6+5' rule at the African Confederation's Congress last January.

On how to convince the European Union

On behalf of FIFA I have been fighting for the past 33 years to defend the universality of our sport. There is room for us to discuss this with Europe and the governments, the door is not closed, and we are not alone in this. The Olympic Committee supports us, and the international volleyball, basketball and rugby federations are looking to introduce similar rules. It is easy to talk about solidarity but more difficult to actually implement it. We need to convince the world and the media, but I'm an optimist by nature and I'm convinced that we'll manage it.

For more stories and information on world football visit www.fifa.com