Tafea FC’s preparations for Saturday’s 2008 O-League opener against Kossa FC came unstuck after a 0-1 loss to Makuru at Lawson Tama Stadium yesterday.
Makuru midfielder, Alick Maemae, was on target with a first half strike that left the star-studded Tafea FC line-up stunned ahead of Saturday’s 2008 O-League match with
Solomon Islands champion club.
Makuru used the match as the perfect bridge in between recent DJ League matches and fielded a strong team that included Felix Ray, George Lui, Judd Molea, Henry
Fa’arodo, Nelson Sale and former internationals Batram Suri and Junior Kakai.
Makuru coach Silias Milikada was delighted with the performance and result but warned Tafea FC would be a tough prospect for any opponent with their squad able to boast
13 Vanuatu full international players.
Tafea FC qualified for the 2008 O-League after a swashbuckling performance at the 2008 O-League Preliminary qualification tournament in New Caledonia earlier this year
saw them sweep aside the champions of Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia with room to spare.
The Vanuatu champions arrive in the 2008 O-League able to boast one of the strongest records in the competitions history finishing runners-up in 2000 to Australian
champions Wollongong Wolves after losing out narrowly 0-1 in the final.
Tafea FC then finished third at the OFC Club Championship – Tahiti 2005.
Success for the club has been unrelenting on the domestic front having racked up an amazing 13 VFF National League championships in a row with the bulk of the
international team comprising the squad for this year’s O-League campaign.
Veteran international goalkeeper, David Chilia, is the undisputed leader of the squad and has experienced some of Vanuatu’s greatest moments in football, including the
4-2 win over New Zealand in the qualification campaign for the FIFA World Cup – Germany 2006, and Tafea FC’s upset victory over New Zealand club champions Napier City Rovers on the way to the final
of the OFC Club Championship in 2000.
Chilia has lost the number one spot for the full international team but will be Tafea FC’s main man in goal for the 2008 O-League.
“The idea for me was to retire after the XIII South Pacific Games – Samoa 2007. We did not expect to finish with the medals and for me the only thing left was Tafea FC
and the O-League,” Chilia said in Apia, last September.