Despite Tahiti’s unbeaten march to this point, many had predicted Solomon Islands to progress – due largely to the boost provided by their fanatical support – but the thousands that crammed into Lawson Tama did not get the result they so desperately desired as the Bonitos fell to a 1-0 loss. If that match did not go to script, the day’s second clash was undoubtedly an upset as the All Whites had never lost to New Caledonia in the OFC Nations Cup and a fresh chapter was therefore written in Pacific footballing history with the 2-0 outcome.
Alain Moizan was proud of the shock result but said all the credit must go to his charges, who are now likely to return home as national heroes.
“I didn’t win this match, it was all down to the players,” he said. “We analysed the New Zealand team and felt they were not that mobile in their movement so we tried to play at speed. We really believed we would be able to win and felt their players were not better than us.”
Les Cagous were good value for the win and the All Whites must have feared the worst when Bertrand Kai nipped in between Ivan Vicelich and Tommy Smith to lift a Jacques Haeko knock down over goalkeeper Jake Gleeson on the hour mark. That put a place in the record books in reach for New Caledonia and they grabbed it with both hands in injury time, Iamel Kabeu feeding Georges Gope-Fenepej in the box for the winger to beat Gleeson from close range.
New Zealand had chances to win it themselves though, Shane Smeltz heading a deep Tony Lochhead cross wide in the 37th minute and Michael McGlinchey striking the crossbar with just over 20 minutes to go.
Coach Ricki Herbert was gracious in defeat but admitted the result – which sees the All Whites’ chance of qualifying for a fourth FIFA Confederations Cup go out the window – is a major blow.
“I’m hugely disappointed,” he said. “I’ve had 52 matches in charge and this is one of the worst moments. There were too many sloppy passes and a lack of quality in the front third. This game is about taking chances and we didn’t do that today.”
The day’s earlier match also featured plenty of drama as the Bonitos saw their dreams of triumphing on home soil dashed. As always, the hosts had the backing of the vast majority of the boisterous crowd but those fanatical fans were silenced on quarter of an hour when Tahiti took the lead.
The Tahitians had an edge on their opponents in the physicality stakes and used their superior height to good effect when an unmarked Jonathan Tehau rose at the far post to head home a free kick taken by brother Lorenzo from near the byline. With the vocal locals spurring them on, Solomon Islands were always going to stay right in the game though and created enough chances to draw level.
Striker Benjamin Totori – the Bonitos’ main attacking threat throughout the tournament – embarked on a number of characteristic raids on the Tahiti goal and created the home side’s best chance of the half when his shot-turned-cross found its way through to James Naka at the back post. It looked easier for the midfielder to score than miss the target but somehow the ball struck his shin as he slid in to convert and instead spooned over the bar.
It was not all one-way traffic though and Tahiti had several good opportunities at the other end, Alvin Tehau passing up two of these in the closing stages of the first period. The muscular frontman got in behind the Bonitos defence before shooting just wide and then failed to find the target again moments later, placing his attempted lob over the bar.
Fortunately for Tahiti coach Eddy Etaeta, his charges did not end up paying for those misses and instead it was Solomon Islands counterpart Jacob Moli who was left to rue what might have been. Despite pressing Tahiti hard in the second half, the Bonitos struggled to carve out clear-cut chances and were too often guilty of trying to dribble the ball into the net rather than pulling the trigger.
“We are very disappointed and it’s a shame to finish like this,” Bonitos technical advisor Laurent Papillon said. “I explained to everybody that we needed only one goal to stay in the competition and we had a lot of balls to score from but that’s football and we have to accept it. We are preparing for the future and will have the chance to get some revenge against Tahiti in stage three of the World Cup qualifiers.”
Etaeta, who charged onto the field at the final whistle and sunk to his knees in celebration, was understandably delighted with the win.
“It’s hard to find the words to describe it but I want to congratulate my players because they played well today and stuck to the tactics,” he said. “But I also wish to congratulate Solomon Islands because it takes two teams to make a good game. In football, anything is possible so there’s no reason why we can’t win the final.”
Tahiti will now go on to meet New Caledonia in Sunday’s final at 3pm local time while New Zealand and Solomon Islands will contest third place at 11am local time.

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