Vanuatu U-20 striker Monica Melteviel was just over a year old when the USA beat China in front of 99,000 fans at the Rose Bowl so has no memory of that iconic moment.
But the sentiment was the same when she scored the opening goal for her side against New Caledonia yesterday.
After watching the ball glide past a helpless Emma Ie, Melteviel turned and whipped off her shirt as she raced to celebrate with her teammates, without knowing she was making an important contribution to an historic victory for Vanuatu.
It was the first win for a Vanuatu women’s side at any level at a regional touranament and while the17-year-old picked up a caution for her actions it seems a small price to pay for her contribution to history.
Though it’s not what she’d originally had in mind for any goals she might have been lucky enough to net.
“I didn’t plan that at all,” she exclaimed post-match.
“Actually we’d been working on some celebrations back in the hotel and I had one that I wanted to do but when I scored it just happened so fast. I ended up taking my shirt off.”
With Vanuatu already off to a bettter start than last year in this competition, Melteviel is loking forward to carrying on in the same vein.
“I’m so happy to play for my country and to score a goal for my country too,” she says.
“Now we hope to continue to play well. We’re are in one mind, me and my teammates, we want to perform well on the field, win games and do well in this competition.”
Vanuatu get an extra day of recovery tomorrow with a bye, but will return to action on Monday 5 October against defending champions New Zealand.

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