OFC U20 Mens Youth Championship

OFC STARS SHINE AS CANADA BECKONS

New Zealand 's qualification for Canada 2007 was anything but a cakewalk. Stu Jacob's squad faced a stern challenge from the Juan Carlos Buzzetti led Fiji with exciting young striker Roy Krishna scoring a raft of goals that took them within whisker of an upset title victory.

New Zealand depended heavily on the professional pair of Chris James and Jeremy Brockie but can also point to good contributions from stand-in skipper Dan Keat and Waitakere United's Sam Jenkins. The Kiwis struggled for form at the start of the competition but lifted for the 3-2 win over Fiji in a spiteful contest at Trusts Stadium, Waitakere. The win gave New Zealand a much needed boost resulting in a 7-0 win over Vanuatu in their next match.

Fiji 's campaign hinged around the form of Roy Krishna and there were few defences that were able to cope with his pace and deadly accuracy in the penalty area. Alvin Singh, Eran Underwood and Esava Naqaleca were able to provide Krishna with a bountiful supply line of chances that saw the Labasa striker notch eight goals.

However, the skill, craft and goal scoring prowess of attacking midfielder Chris James proved too strong for the rest of the field as the New Zealanders qualified comfortably on paper despite an exciting and nervy final match day in which James missed two penalties before slotting home an injury-time winner against New Caledonia.

Tahiti upset Fiji 2-0 thanks to a double strike from Leon Chan. Had Fiji beaten Tahiti and New Zealand drawn with New Caledonia, Fiji would have qualified.

Solomon Islands were the only team to take a point off New Zealand but their habit of dropping points against weaker teams came back to haunt them. Judd Molea was in excellent form but he was relied upon to do too much in the big matches. This was illustrated perfectly during the 3-0 loss to Fiji where Molea was man-marked out of the game. Other players to stand out for Solomon Islands were Tony Otini, Joses Nawo and Joachim Rande but the overwhelming feeling was one of underperformance by most observers.

New Caledonia can be proud of their efforts with Richard Sele and Jean Wahnyamalla getting amongst the goals and turning in some eye-catching performances. Prior to the tournament New Caledonia lost 3-0 to their U-17 team and looked to be in disarray. However, New Caledonia was far from slipshod scoring some of the tournament's best goals and participating in some its most exciting fixtures. Richard Sele was particularly exciting showing a rare turn of pace and exceptional power in his left foot with a high level of technical skill that made him exciting to watch.

Tahiti turned in a workmanlike and organised performance but lacked the electrifying pace of many of the other teams. Tahiti will point to victory over Fiji and a solid display against New Zealand as evidence of progress but less than convincing performances against struggling teams such as Samoa and Vanuatu suggest they still have some further improvement to make. Roihau Degage was in good form and Leon Chan's two goals in the final match were highlights.

Vanuatu coach Andrew Hobbs said a patchy pre-tournament build-up coupled with the patchy form of Fiji-based striker Joseph Namariau led to a disappointing performance. A win over Samoa and two creditable draws with Solomon Islands and Tahiti hinted at the talent within the squad with Remy Kensey Avock and Francois Sakama turning in high quality performances. Sadly Vanuatu surrendered leads in three of their six matches - an indictment on their short preparation programme – and they took a 7-0 hammering from New Zealand. Vanuatu finished in sixth place but one wonders what they may have been capable of given better preparation.

Samoa will want to forget their results in New Zealand very quickly after leaking 33 goals. Waikato FC player Damian Fonoti was the focal point for all of Samoa's play and his value to the team was underlined with the variety of roles he played – captain, centre back, midfielder and striker. Despite the lopsided results Samoa will cherish the quality of their goal against New Zealand when Silao Malo hit a sweet finish that capped off a fine passing move.

THE HISTORY OF THE OFC U20 MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP

Australia 's domination of this age-group has yielded 12 Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) titles and consequently a raft of appearances at the FIFA U20 Men's World Cup for the green and gold but their departure for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has opened up a wonderful opportunity for other OFC member associations to taste World Cup glory in this age group. OFC's other powerhouse New Zealand has secured two OFC U20 Men's titles in 1980 and 1993. The only nation outside of Australia and New Zealand to secure a title was Tahiti at the inaugural tournament held in 1974.

New Zealand's two titles and seven runners-up medals suggest that the Kiwis might be a shoo-in for FIFA U20 Men's World Cup Canada 2007, however, in the past four editions of the OFC U20 Men's Championship it has been Fiji and the Solomon Islands who have pushed past New Zealand to make it to the final showing nothing in football can be taken for granted.

OFC MEN'S U20 CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIOUS WINNERS