First up will be the Cook Islands taking on Papua New Guinea at 9.30am before hosts Vanuatu meet Fiji at 12.30pm while New Caledonia will face defending champions New Zealand at 3.30pm.
The winner of the tournament will qualify for the FIFA U-17World Cup, which is set to take place in United Arab Emirates from October 17 to November 8.
Here’s a look at the action that’s in store across the three matches on the second day of the OFC U-17 Championship.
Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea – 9.30am Friday 19 April
Following their 9-0 loss at the hands of a sharp New Zealand side in the opening match of the tournament, the Cook Islands will have to lift their heads if they want to avoid another thrashing. Despite the score line suggesting otherwise, goalkeeper Keegan Inia had a stand-out match shutting down the experienced New Zealand finishers and avoiding conceding double figures. Papua New Guinea are looking for their first win after being held to a 1-1 draw by hosts Vanuatu on day one. The side will be pleased with their opening efforts which saw them compete with the well-organised Vanuatu side. They opened the scoring through Nicky Benjamin who had a number of excellent shots saved throughout the match and will no doubt be looking to increase his goal tally against the OFC U-17 Preliminary winners.
In their own words
“We will approach the game in a physical manner and will give them all we have. I don’t know much about Papua New Guinea but I’m sure they will give us a good game. A successful tournament for us would be to earn a win or a draw or at least be competitive.” – Cook Islands coach Tuka Tisam
“Every team that has come here wants to win and that’s a message to us. We need to win just to stay in contention and I think my guys will come out well at the end based on the way they played against Vanuatu. If they start and continue to play the match against the Cook Islands like that, then I think we have a good chance to win this match.” – Papua New Guinea coach Bobby Morris
Vanuatu vs. Fiji – 12.30pm Friday 19 April
Hosts Vanuatu have what is essentially a 12th man at at each match – the crowd – and it was their backing that helped the side remain focussed after going a goal behind against Papua New Guinea in their opening match. Goal scorer Jaison Thomas and forward Ruben Frank peppered the goal with shots but the majority were off-target, a factor they will need to improve on ahead of tomorrow’s match up. Meanwhile Wednesday was the first competitive outing for the young Fijian side who coach Kamal Swamy has called a development squad. They were undone in the first half by the classy New Caledonian side and found themselves unable to answer to the quick-pass ground game. However they kept the French side out in the second period which shows they have the resolve to continue fighting. As with each team here at the tournament, Fiji will be looking to win, but will face an uphill battle against the hosts tomorrow.
In their own words
“If the boys continue to concentrate like they did in the second half against Papua New Guinea I think they will have a good game against Fiji. It’s normal to start the game a bit slow, and it can make it hard in tournaments like this but they just need to concentrate and play football.” – Vanuatu coach Etienne Mermer
“It’s a learning process for us and we have learnt a lot from our first game. We will have to be more compact in our defence and look at our options with some of the players and improve for the next match against Vanuatu.” – Fiji coach Kamal Swamy
New Caledonia vs. New Zealand – 3.30pm Friday 19 April
Both these sides secured wins on Match Day 1 which means the winner of this encounter, if there is one, will take the advantage and move to the top of the standings. New Caledonia looked very well organised against Fiji with captain Mikael Partodikromo directing play well from his position deep in midfield. Valentin Nykeine was unlucky not to add more than two to his tally as was Antony Kai and with the backing of midfielders like Jim Ouka and Jacky Wetawea, New Caledonia have set themselves up to provide a strong challenge for New Zealand. The Young All Whites earned their win over the Cook Islands and played some fantastic football while they were at it. Monty Patterson locked in a hat-trick while both Meysum Shafahi and Stuart Holthusen got a brace each, showing the Kiwis have no trouble finding the back of the net. They will want to continue to build on their goal difference against the sole francophone side attending the tournament, while not conceding at the back.
In their own words
“We will begin with processing our first match and look at what we need to put in place. We will check the state of the boys and whether there are any injuries or not. I saw New Zealand play and they are rigorous and very strong technically.” – New Caledonia coach Kamali Fitialata
“We’ve done a bit of research on New Caledonia and have had a chance to watch them. They will be good, it’s going to be a hard game and we’re expecting to get a few of those at this tournament. We’ll be making sure we’re ready for them.” – New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley
OFC U-17 Championship – MATCH DAY 2 PREVIEW
Cook Islands vs.Papua New Guinea
9.30am local time, Friday 19 April
Luganville Soccer City Stadium
Luganville, Vanuatu
Referee: John SAOHU [SOL]
Assistant Referee 1: Douglas METE [SOL]
Assistant Referee 2: Folio MOEAKI [TON]
4th Official: Ravitesh BEHARI [FIJ]
Cook Islands: 1. Keegan INIA [GK], 2. Sunai JOSEPH, 4. Cahjun WILLIS, 5. Ford HENRY, 6. Takuina TARARO, 7. Dwayne TIPUTOA, 8. Kimiora SAMUELA, 9. Pekay EDWARDS, 10. Thane BEAL, 11. Maro BONSU-MARO, 12. Wiremu TEMATA, 13. Jarves APERAU, 14. Terei GEORGE, 15. Morgan WICHMAN, 16. Te-Ava WICHMAN, 17.
Samuel MAOATE-COX, 20. Antonio TUAITI [GK]
Coach: Tuka TISAM [COK]
Papua New Guinea: 1. Peter PITOR [GK], 2. Jonel KAMBUAL, 3. Felix KOMOLONG, 4. Nigel MALAGIAN, 5. John RAY (c), 6. Kepas KAMEN, 7. Joshua TALAU, 8. David MINGAI, 9. Joshua WADUNAH, 10. Steven INIA, 11. Abraham MANDAWALI, 12. Glenn KAMBUKA, 13. Nicky BENJAMIN, 14. Peter DABINYABA, 15. Dallas NAMUESH, 16. Maya BOB, 17. Stanley STEVEN, 18. Randoll BONGI, 20. Vagi KONIEL [GK], 23. Andrew AOPI [GK]
Coach: Bob MORRIS [PNG]
Vanuatu vs. Fiji
12.30pm local time, Friday 19 April
Luganville Soccer City Stadium
Luganville, Vanuatu
Referee: Averii JACQUES [TAH]
Assistant Referee 1: Philippe REVEL [TAH]
Assistant Referee 2: Glen LOCHRIE [NZL]
4th Official: Isidore ASSIENE-AMBASSA [NCL]
Vanuatu: 1. Charlie WAIVUI [GK], 2. Jaison THOMAS, 3. Goshen DONNA, 4. Elie MELTE ROSSI, 5. Remy KALSRAP, 6. Douglas PATRICK, 7. Etienne NAIEU, 8. Alphonse TOA, 9. Gregory ROUARD, 10. Bong KALO, 11. Alex SANIEL, 12. Jacky RUBEN, 13. Justin KOKA, 14. Andre BULE, 15. Andrew VANVA, 16. Ruben FRANK, 17. Kerry IAWAK, 18. Renold IWAI, 19. Joe NAKO, 20. Samuel LOLI [GK]
Coach: Etienne MERMER [VAN]
Fiji: 1. Ratu YAVALA [GK], 2. Rupeni RABICI, 3. Joseva KOROI, 4. Suliano TAWANANAKORO, 5. Iliesa SMITH, 6. Maikeli KETEWAI, 7. Ravnit CHAND, 8. Kelvin NAIDU, 9. Shalvin SHARMA, 10. Iosefo VEREVOU, 11. Vishwa SHARMA, 12. Prashant SHARMA, 13. Raees RAFIQ, 14. Anusheel SINGH, 15. Seremaia KOROI, 16. Mohammed MOBEEN, 17. Mataiasi TOMA, 18. Jonetani BUKSH, 19. Sekove FINAU, 20. Misiwani NAIRUBE [GK]
Coach: Kamal SWAMY [FIJ]
New Caledonia vs. New Zealand
3.30pm local time, Friday 19 April
Luganville Soccer City Stadium
Luganville, Vanuatu
Referee: Albert MARU [PNG]
Assistant Referee 1: Avinesh NARAYAN [FIJ]
Assistant Referee 2: Mahit CHILIA [VAN]
4th Official: Nelson SOGO [SOL]
New Caledonia: 1. Thomas SCHMIDT [GK], 2. Pierre BOANEMOA, 3. Yorick WAINEBENGO, 4. Jean-Luc DECOIRE, 5. Didier SIMANE, 6. Jim OUKA, 7. Roberto NEOERE, 8.
Antony KAI, 9. Valentin NYKEINE [GK], 10. Mickael PARTODIKROMO, 11. Ben WAMOWE, 12. Theo JALABERT, 13. Brandon MEAOU, 14. Eugene SAKILIA, 15. Jacky WETEWEA, 16. Emmanuel CASE, 17. Raymond XANATRE, 18. Erwan AUSSU, 19. Macinou WAMAI, 20. Jimmy WAHNAPO [GK]
Coach: Kamali FITIALEATA
New Zealand: 1. Zac SPEEDY [GK], 2. Riley KELLIHER, 3. Cory BROWN, 4. Nick FORRESTER, 5. Adam MITCHELL, 6. Alex PALEZEVIC, 7. Andrew BLAKE, 8. Michael DEN HEIJER, 9. Elijah NEBLETT, 10. Matthew RIDENTON, 11. Monty PATTERSON, 12. Sam COPP [GK], 13. Spiros AGATHOS, 14. Andre DE JONG, 15. Thomas PROBERT, 16. Meysum SHAFAHI, 17. Nick SUGDEN, 18. Stuart HOLTHUSEN, 19. Alex RUFER, 20. Tamupiwa DIMAIRO
Coach: Darren BAZELEY [ENG]