The Oceania qualifiers will take place at Vodafone Arena in Suva from Monday to Friday of next week and the winner will follow in the footsteps of the 2008 Solomon Islands squad by appearing on the world’s biggest futsal stage. Set to battle it out for that sole spot in Thailand are the finest players from Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The eighth edition of the tournament sees a record number of teams taking part and is likely to be one of the most competitive yet as the popularity and development of the exciting indoor version of the game spreads across the Pacific. As well as featuring more teams than ever before, Fiji 2011 is also a landmark tournament as it will be the first time a two-group format has been used to decide Oceania’s futsal champion.
Previously, all the teams were included in one pool and the accumulator of the most points was awarded the title. The new format places the sides in two groups of four with the top two going through to the semi-finals. The grand final will then decide the World Cup qualifier while play-offs for 3rd/4th, 5th/6th and 7th/8th will also be fought out.
The Solomon Islands squad, known as the Kurukuru, are the only non-Australia team to have carved their name on the trophy and have won the last three titles in a row. They are favoured to earn their fourth straight championship and coach Dickson Kadau has decided to make few changes to a formula that has proved so successful.
The line-up is almost identical to the 2010 vintage, the only change arriving in the form of Samuel Osifelo, who returns to the fold after being involved in the team that qualified for the country’s first ever FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2008. Inspirational captain Elliot Ragomo, who was a nominee for the 2009 OFC Player of the Year award, will again lead the side in a playmaking role and much of the goalscoring responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of Jack Wetney and fellow forward Micah Lea’alafa — a pair of players vital to the Kurukuru cause.
In an ominous sign for the Kurukuru’s Group B rivals, Kadau says the sense of determination within the squad is the highest he has ever known it.
“My players have given their best in training and I am confident their hard work will bring them the results they want,” he says. “Hard work has been the main ingredient in our preparations and all the players have displayed their desire to win with their peformances in training.”
The other teams in Group B are New Caledonia, Tahiti and Tuvalu, and it appears as if the francophone pair could be in for a head-to-head showdown in the race to make the semi-finals. It would be a major surprise if the Kurukuru did not take one of the top two places, while Tuvalu are yet to win an OFC Futsal Championship match and are very much the underdogs of the group.
The clash between traditional rivals Tahiti and New Caledonia could therefore be crucial and is sure to be one of the highlights of the tournament.
The fight for semi-final spots in Group A is likely to be even more intriguing as three of the sides have realistic aims of taking the title. The draw has thrown together Fiji, New Zealand and Vanuatu – who have all finished among the top placings in previous tournaments and possess strong squads – and they will be joined by Kiribati, a nation making its first ever appearance at the OFC Futsal Championship.
The newcomers are likely to find the going tough – goal difference could prove crucial so none of their opponents will be in the mood to take it easy against the Kiribati defence. Of the three sides, New Zealand’s Futsal Whites appear to have made the most progress and coach Matt Chandler has put together a group of players that is arguably the most talented the country has sent to this competition.
Star striker Daniel Koprivcic, fresh from winning the 2011 O-League with Auckland City and being named the tournament’s best player, has been lured into the fold and joins several others who have starred at the highest 11-a-side level in New Zealand, including Hawke’s Bay United pair Marvin Eakins and Lucas Silva, Youngheart Manawatu’s Greg O’Connor, former Waikato FC targetman Nathan Robertson and ex-Auckland City midfielder Jakub Sinkora.
Chandler is quietly confident and believes the Futsal Whites have their best ever chance of making it to the World Cup.
“The team that is best organised on and off the court will get there,” he says. “We have always needed strength and depth to compete at this level and we now have that.”
But Fiji and Vanuatu also have such attributes and have performed well at this event in the past. The hosts have finished as runners-up on the previous two occasions while Vanuatu have come third in five out of the last six championships.
Both will be keen to finally shake off their bridesmaid tags and take a place amongst the world’s elite next year in Thailand.