Two former Old Firm goalkeeping foes will rekindle an old rivalry in the tropical setting of Tahiti on Match Day Two of the OFC U-20 Championship as hosts and favourites clash in a match that could determine which team qualifies for Egypt 2009.

If New Zealand can defeat Tahiti they will all but secure qualification for the FIFA U-20 Men’s World Cup – Egypt 2009 and retain the title won by Stu Jacobs in Auckland in 2007. A draw will strengthen New Zealand’s position at the top of the table and mean a big win over Fiji combined with an upset result in the final match between New Caledonia and New Zealand will be required for Tahiti to progress to the finals.

Two men at the centre of the action on Match Day Two are no strangers to this type of pressure.

Former Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper Jonathan Gould is New Zealand’s goalkeepers coach while former Rangers and France goalkeeper Lionel Charbonnier will sit in the opposite dug out as head coach and technical director for Tahiti U-20.

Both men represented their respective countries at the FIFA World Cup France ’98 though neither goalkeeper started for their country. Gould sat behind Neil Sullivan and Jim Leighton while Charbonnier’s path was blocked by Bernard Lama and Fabien Barthez.

Gould’s career could not have been more itinerant: as a teenager he found himself in New Zealand playing for Napier City Rovers as an outfielder before returning to the UK determined to win himself a professional contract. Gould achieved his aim but only after following the advice of his father Bobby Gould and becoming a goalkeeper.

“I had a job at a bank for three months and it just didn’t work out for me. It made me more determined than ever to become a professional,” Gould said.

 Jonathan’s success was remarkable given the transformation from outfielder to custodian but his rise through the ranks was hardly stellar. Spells with Clevedon Town, West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City, Halifax Town and Bradford City saw Gould unable to hold down the number one jersey for any extended length of time.

 Then opportunity struck. A goalkeeping crisis at Celtic during the 1997-98 season saw Gould plucked from Bradford City and thrust into the cauldron of the Glasgow derby at a time when arch rivals Rangers were making a charge for a record-breaking tenth Scottish Premier League title in a row.

“Everything was about stopping Rangers achieving ten-in-a-row at that time. Fans would come up to us and ask, ‘Please, just stop them this once, stop them getting ten-in-a-row and breaking our record’,” Gould told the BBC in a documentary about the Old Firm rivalry several years later.

Celtic did stop Rangers breaking the jointly held nine-in-a-row record on the last day of the 1997-98 season with Henrik Larrson and Harald Brattbakk goals enough to dispose of St.Johnstone and hand the Wim Jansen-coached team the title. Gould would go on to make 110 appearances for Celtic and although born in England, qualified to play for Scotland through the grandparent rule and won two caps.

 Celtic’s joy was short-lived. The arrival of Dutch coach Dick Advocaat combined with an open chequebook transfer policy saw in excess of 50 million pounds worth of talent imported to the Ibrox-based club. The list of players included Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, Arthur Numan, Gabriel Amato, Danny Wallace, Andrei Kanchelskis and Lionel Charbonnier.

 The eccentric Charbonnier was an instant hit with Rangers fans and his off-field exploits included owning a stable of race horses and a deep interest in art which included painting, displaying and selling some of his work in local Glaswegian art galleries – a radical departure from the norm for a professional footballer.

As a FIFA World Cup winner and long-time servant of French club Auxerre (including one heroic performance for the club in a UEFA Champions League win over Rangers several years earlier) Rangers fans sang “La Marseillaise” every time he touched the ball.

“Rangers fans were special for me,” Charbonnier said, “the fans sang ‘La Marseillaise’ when I played and this is something fans in France don’t do. Even in other countries such a gesture is reserved for players of the calibre of Eric Cantona.”

By the time Gould and Charbonnier met head-to-head in an Old Firm derby much had changed. Rangers dominated their Old Firm rivals and it was the Frenchman who enjoyed a treble winning debut season as the Ibrox club clinched the Scottish League Cup, Scottish Cup and Scottish Premier League title.

Charbonnier recalls his favourite moments for the Scottish club but insists fans remember him for different reasons.

“My favourite matches for Rangers were in Europe. We went to Turkey in the Champions League and won in Besiktas. Another match I remember well was our match with Parma when we won 2-1 on aggregate. Fans don’t remember these games.

 Rangers fans remember me for two saves I made against Henrik Larrson. He broke through our defence twice in one-on-one situations and the first I saved with my legs. The second I hooked over the bar with my arm. Beating Celtic meant more to the fans,” Charbonnier said.

 Charbonnier’s international career – like Gould’s – earned only modest recognition with just one cap for France supplemented by the small matter of a FIFA World Cup winners medal.

Now the two reunite in the South Pacific at the OFC U-20 Championship.

 Gould’s return to New Zealand with Hawkes Bay United and New Zealand Football is a classic case of a player ready and willing to put something back into the game in a region that provided a platform for a flourishing professional career.

For Charbonnier the pathway to Oceania was less obvious although the ties between Federation Tahitienne de Football (FTF) where former Nantes professional and current FIFA Vice-President Reynald Temarii lives are stronger than ever.

Charbonnier and FTF thrust Tahiti U-20 into the Championnat D1 with a series of big victories over Tamarii Faaa (5-2), AS JT (5-1) and champions AS Manu Ura (3-1). In recent weeks the Tahiti U-20 form has dipped with defeat against lowly TAC (0-1), a draw with newly promoted Excelsior (2-2) and an unconvincing win over JT (1-0).

Despite New Zealand’s role as favourites, the former Auxerre star says closing the gap between Tahiti and New Zealand is achievable.

“I believe the gap between Oceania and the rest of the world is very big and closing that gap will be difficult. But can the gap close between Oceania and New Zealand? Of course, I think this is realistic.

We should be optimistic about our chances of making this goal happen if we behave more professionally in how we do things,” Charbonnier told a press conference in Noumea in May.

New Zealand U-20 has played one preparation match for this tournament with a defeat against high-flying Waikato FC (0-1) at Auckland Grammar in Epsom.

In Match Day Two’s other showdown New Caledonia face Fiji in a similar do-or-die encounter. Fiji’s hopes of qualification look slim after its 3-0 loss to New Zealand. Only two consecutive wins over New Caledonia and Tahiti by big margins will be good enough to help Fiji qualify and even then results in other matches will have to swing their way before Carlos Buzzetti’s team can dream of Egypt.

New Caledonia’s opening day draw with Tahiti means victory will be essential to force the qualification issue to the last day. Another draw will mean Didier Chambaron’s charges will have to beat New Zealand at Stade Puurai to get to Egypt.

OFC U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP

TAHITI U-20 vs. NEW ZEALAND U-20

STADE MAHINA

TAHITI

Monday 15 December 2008/Tuesday 16 December 2008 (NZT)

Kick-Off: 18h30 (local time)/17h30 (NZT)

www.oceaniafootball.com will bring text updates of the match as the action unfolds

OFC U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP

NEW CALEDONIA U-20 vs. FIJI U-20

STADE MAHINA

Monday 15 December 2008 (local)/Tuesday 16 December 2008 (FIJI/NCL)

Kick-Off: 16h00 (local time)/14h00/13h00 (FIJI/NCL)

Lionel Charbonnier in his Rangers days – image courtesy www.jamd.com

Jonathan Gould during the 1998-99 season starring for Celtic – image courtesy of www.jamd.com

For more information please contact:

Steve Holloway

OFC Media and Communications Officer

Mobile: +64 (0)21-884-018

Email: [email protected]