New Zealand coach Chris Milicich was delighted to have sealed a return to the world stage and felt his charges were well worthy of their title.
“Winning the tournament is what we expected to do but it’s still exciting, we have a good group to go into at the World Cup and once again New Zealand has a team that can produce on the world stage and hopefully get more of these players into a professional environment,” he said.
“I haven’t even started thinking about the World Cup yet though, it would have been terrible not to make it but we’re there now.”
The Fiji-New Zealand clash was always likely to be the highlight of the tournament and it lived up to those expectations in a tense first half in which New Zealand came closest to opening the scoring just before the break, Simon Arms getting his head to a Ryan Thomas free kick but being denied by an outstanding save from goalkeeper Senirusi Bokini.
The Junior All Whites came back from the break with a new level of wanting, and just three minutes into the half were lining up for a penalty after Thomas was brought down in the box. Louis Fenton stepped up to the spot and calmly slotted home to give New Zealand a 1-0 lead.
The action then swung from end to end as New Zealand looked to extend the lead while Fiji sought an equaliser. But the match took a turn for the worse for Fiji just before the hour mark when Napolioni Qasevakatini was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence.
New Zealand made the most of their numerical advantage and were two in front by the 67th minute when Bokini misjudged a long range Howieson free kick and allowed the ball to drop under the cross bar. The Junior All Whites had their third after Hamish Watson turned home a low shot from near the penalty spot two minutes later and the result was confirmed in the 83rd minute as Thomas capped an impressive performance with a goal of his own by neatly curling home a shot into the far corner.
Disappointment was written all over the face of Fiji coach Ravinesh Kumar who said the penalty was the turning point in the match.
“Shortly after that one of our players got red carded which allowed New Zealand to overrun us and score the rest of their goals,” Kumar said. “I said early on that New Zealand have a high number of players from overseas and a lot of experience and that paid off for them. The better team usually wins and they were the better team.”
Earlier in the day, Papua New Guinea came into their match with a point to prove after suffering two heavy defeats to New Zealand and Vanuatu. They set about making amends when Papalau Awele sent a shot soaring over the head of New Caledonia goalkeeper Anthony Ajapuhnya only four minutes in and increased their lead in the 19th minute through captain Alwin Komolong.
But Papua New Guinea suffered a major setback when goalscorer Awele was dismissed for a deliberate handball in the box and Jordy Xalite tucked away the resulting penalty to put New Caledonia back into the game in the 24th minute.
Jean-Pierre Bob got the equaliser just four minutes later and Xalite stole the lead shortly afterwards with his second. Papua New Guinea refused to give up though and equalised nine minutes later when Emmanuel Airem’s shot went screaming past Ajapuhnya.
New Caledonia upped the pace after the break, taking advantage of their extra man to score six more times through a Fonzy Ranchain double, Bob’s second, a stunning Decoire strike and further goals to substitutes Renaldo Nonmeu and David Wadra.
New Caledonia continued to apply pressure right up until the final whistle, but it couldn’t come soon enough for Jacob Sabua who received his second caution of the match in the last minute, leaving his team-mates to run down the clock with just nine players on the field.
New Caledonia coach Matthieu Delcroix said it was pleasing to see his side earn their first victory of the tournament.
“It’s a little bit difficult to celebrate because the red card made it a lot easier for us, even if we initially had some difficulty taking advantage of our superior numbers,” Delcroix said.
“I’m happy with the boys, in the second half they controlled the ball better and were able to score a number of goals. I have to congratulate Papua New Guinea who were disadvantaged early on, but the victory is a morale boost for our boys who applied pressure right until the end.”
Papua New Guinea counterpart Wesley Waiwai said Awele’s sending off changed the complexion of the match.
“We tried our best but getting a red card didn’t make it any easier. If you play with ten men against a team like New Caledonia it is always going to be difficult,” Waiwai said. “It was good to score some goals today and the players just need to work on their mentality because if they can strengthen their minds they will become better players.”
The OFC U-20 Championship concludes on Friday with Papua New Guinea searching for their first win against Fiji from 2pm and New Caledonia meeting Vanuatu from 4.30pm while champions New Zealand have the bye. Both matches will be played at Govind Park in Ba as the tournament shifts venues for its finale.
Match Summary New Caledonia – Papua New Guinea click here
Match Summary New Zealand – Fiji click here
Competition Summary click here
Disciplinary Summary click here

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