The Vanuatu team defeated Port Vila club Tafea FC 2-1 last week and did even better just a few days later, disposing of Narak Tegapu 5-1 to continue a run coach Moise Poida hopes will carry over to the OFC tournament, the winner of which will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Ivon August and Jean Kaltak were on target at the Vanuatu Football Federation’s Teouma Academy ground as the youngsters overcame TVL Premier League runners-up Tafea, whose only response came from Solomon Islands international Joe Lui.
Kaltak found the net again in the Narak Tegapu victory and was joined on the scoresheet by Pascal Chapod, Joseph Simo and Yvon August as the U-20s put themselves 4-0 up before the break.
After the restart, August added to the advantage by notching his second, before Narak Tegapu finally replied through Erick Kapioko.
Poida is pleased with the two wins and thinks his young charges are now in a good frame of mind to tackle the challenges of the OFC championship.
“When you play a new team like Narak Tegapu, you have to stay focused at all times and keep playing good football,” Poida says.
“We dominated and more or less controlled the whole game which is good to see from the boys. This was probably our last game before we fly to New Zealand on Sunday and we are now looking forward to taking part in the tournament after two years at the academy,” he says.
“The boys have picked up and their spirit is good. I pray they remain this way and improve positively as we look towards the OFC tournament.”
Vanuatu’s first match at the OFC U-20 Championship is against American Samoa on April 21. They have also been drawn to face Fiji and Papua New Guinea in Group A of the tournament. The three-team Group B consists of Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and New Zealand.
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