New Zealand were overwhelmed 7-1 in their 2013 encounter with the Asian Football Federation side, but that appeared a distant memory as the Futsal Whites showed why they deserved to be just the second Oceania team to beat an AFC opponent, after Solomon Islands victory over Thailand in a 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup warmup match.
“It’s fantastic, a tribute to the players,” Futsal Whites coach Scott Gilligan says of his side’s impressive opening victory.
“As I’ve said, our preparation hasn’t been the greatest but we’ve come off a three match series against Australia where we really got hammered and I think they took stock and thought about what they’re playing futsal for.
“They played a simple game today. We decided to defend a lot more compact. We still struggled a little but to create, I’ll be honest, we still need to work on that but you can’t fault the guys, a 7-1 loss last time to Malaysia to a 4-1 is leaps and bounds ahead.”
Malaysia looked a shadow of their former selves – lacking the pace and excitement fans came to associate with them. While they started strong with some early shots, they soon started to fade as the New Zealanders perseverance paid off.
Seven minutes in the opportunity fell to one of the Futsal Whites youngest recruits Jan Fischer who didn’t falter as he tucked the ball into the back of the net.
To their credit, Malaysia countered strong and less than five minutes later a stunning and powerful strike from Shamsul Zamri found its way past the Kiwi’s keeper Atta Elayyan for the equaliser. However it wasn’t the visitors’ night and New Zealand once again had the advantage after a lurking Dylan Manickum tipped in Mohamed Kamri’s delivery at the back post.
After the break Malaysia seemed reinvigorated and upped the pressure on the leaders as they looked to equalise a second time. But their offensive pressure left them weak at the back and with eight minutes remaining Kareem Osman added a third for the Futsal Whites when he capitalised on a keeper error. Fischer earned his brace after tapping a lay-off from Kamri in behind the goalkeeper.
Down 4-1 Malaysia changed tactics, adopting the flying keeper with Shamsul Zamri honoured with that role. While an effective offensive move it does leave the defence exposed and New Zealand certainly tried to take advantage of that factor. With the clock ticking down Malaysia simply ran out of options as New Zealand tightened ranks to secure a memorable victory.
For Malaysia coach Maizal Hairi Marzuki the loss was in stark contrast to the jubilation that come from his side’s previous encounter with the Kiwis.
“Our players played well, they did very well, but they couldn’t score,” Marzuki rues.
“I think New Zealand took our mistakes and converted the chances whereas my players just couldn’t get the goals.
“Tomorrow I’ve got one training and I think we will correct our mistakes today for the next game and I hope we will be stronger next match.”
In the second match of the evening Vanuatu took on Tahiti in a match many expected the Tahitians to breeze through following the 5-3 victory they earned in the previous encounter between these two sides.
They may have come out with a mission to score but loose passes and a lack of tempo put paid to any hopes for an early opener for Tahiti as Vanuatu imposed a pace their counterparts struggled to match. Less than four minutes in Vanuatu’s Pakoa Rakom shocked Tahiti and much of the gathered supporters when he smashed a shot through the legs of goalkeeper Hauarii Hioe to open the scoring.
Vanuatu sustained the pressure and were rewarded for their efforts when captain Ben Hungai tapped in behind Hioe to extend the lead. Hioe didn’t do himself any favours as the clock ticked down on the first half when he pushed Albert Tho off the ball to deny a goal scoring opportunity. George Mahit stepped up to the challenge and Hioe redeemed himself when he got his foot out to deny the first shot, but Mahit didn’t miss with the rebound to take the score to 3-0 at the break.
In Tahiti’s defence the score probably wasn’t completely indicative of their first half performance with the side creating plenty of exciting opportunities which they failed to convert into goals.
Teaonui Tehau, better known as a member of the Toa Aito, showed his skills can translate from the court to the field as he dodged, ducked and turned with ease. Anderson Tino, another newcomer to the side, also proved a tidy acquisition with his powerful driving shots, while the slightly more experienced Smith Tino showed he’s only gotten better with age.
Shortly into the second period Tehau came through for his new teammates as he struck well to find the back of the net. The shots continued to fly in for Tahiti, but went everywhere but over the goal line. Their commitment to attacking in an effort to forcea comeback like that of 2013 left them unguarded at the back and again Vanuatu capitalised. Rakom got in his second after a free kick found its way for him to convert.
An absolutely ecstatic Louis Dominique almost couldn’t describe the elation he felt at the final whistle.
“The boy’s played very well and I’m really proud of them. They were very outstanding and we spoke in the training session yesterday about what I wanted from them and they did exactly that on the court,” Dominique says.
“We are taking the tournament game by game. Tahiti we played at the tournament last year and they beat us within the last six minutes when we were leading 3-1. So we had to work on those mistakes and this is the outcome.
“We played more defensive and had more possession of the ball in this game – and that’s what we planned to do.”
Tahiti’s Heitapu Hunter was visibly disappointed not to get crucial points under the belt on the opening day.
“We didn’t start the match well. We perhaps went too quick and then couldn’t sustain that – and we also couldn’t finish our chances,” he says.
“I think that our strategy wasn’t bad, it’s just that we were missing goals. With a bit of luck maybe we can rectify those problems before the next match.”
The OFC Futsal Championship Invitational 2014 continues tomorrow at Arene du Sud two more action-packed matches on the schedule. Hosts New Caledonia will make their 2014 debut against Tahiti at 6pm (local) before New Zealand play Vanuatu at 8pm (local).

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