Fiji – New Zealand Match Summary click here
Earlier today, Tahiti got their campaign off to the perfect start with a 6-0 win over Tuvalu while Vanuatu also posted a comprehensive victory, 9-2 over Kiribati. The Solomon Islands then swept aside New Caledonia 13-5 to confirm their position as favourites for the title.
The hosts, who have finished runners-up for the past two years, did not take long to hit the lead, earning the advantage in just the third minute through Sandeep Nair.
But the Futsal Whites were not knocked off their stride by the goal and appeared content to let Fiji have the bulk of the possession. Coach Matt Chandler had clearly devised a tactic based around soaking up the Fiji pressure and hitting back on the break and it worked well for the most part, bringing a reward in the 15th minute when captain Marvin Eakins fired a low shot home to equalise.
New Zealand continued to lie deep and there were no further goals for the remainder of the half.
The scorers were called into action quickly as the second spell resumed though, the Futsal Whites taking just one minute to get in front for the first time. It was skipper Eakins who again found the target to put his side into a good position to go on and win the match.
Two more goals, to Lucas Silva and Dylan Manickum, then put them well in control but Fiji were in no mood to surrender meekly and strikes from Uraia Loki and Ajesh Narayan put them just 4-3 behind with only one minute remaining.
The worst fears of Chandler and his players were then realised when Hussein Sahib scored with almost the last kick of the match to make it 4-4.
Quotes
Fiji coach Intiaz Khan:
I should thank the players for the committment they have shown and the hard work they put in today. We called a time-out when we were three goals behind with nine minutes to go because I felt that would give us enough time to get back into the game and the boys were able to do it. There were a lot of things that weren’t perfect today. We conceded four goals which isn’t very good, we will have to work on that.
New Zealand coach Matt Chandler:
It feels like a loss because at 4-1 up I felt we were controlling the game. I can’t say I’m happy with a draw and I’d much prefer to have won the game obviously. I thought we should have put the result beyond Fiji but, in credit to them, they kept going. It will be a character-building experience for us – it’s now about what we do next and how we react to that. I think we’ll react positively because we have a lot of quality and I thought we could have had about five goals in that first half.