After New Caledonia secured the XIII South Pacific Games men’s football gold medal and securing a Stage Two OFC/FIFA World Cup qualifying
berth, the question was how the national association would harness the feel-good factor to drive football forward. Now two
development programmes driven by France Football Federation (FFF) and FIFA have helped spark an interesting synergy at youth level in refereeing and futsal. The feel good factor in New Caledonia football continued an upward trajectory after the arrival of France Football Federation (FFF) Technical Instructor
Bernard Washing. Washing conducted referee training courses in the New Caledonia capital of Noumea and in the outer islands
including Lifou – home of FIFA World Cup winner and two-time OFC Player of the Year, Christian Karembeu – during his short stay in the country. Washing worked with youth referees of the UNSS club and followed up from a recent Futsal training course run by FIFA instructor James
Senior. Football’s popularity has soared since New Caledonia secured a spot at Stage Two of the OFC/FIFA World Cup
qualifying tournament and the latest development initiatives featuring Washing and Senior have helped consolidate this growth. Meanwhile, successful national team coach Didier Chambaron paid homage to the qualities of his victorious squad. Chambaron who guided his team to the XIII South Pacific Games gold medal in Samoa
said his philosophies were based on a sense of collectiveness and team work. “We have certain
individuals who have good talent – Pierre Wajoka is a good player, for example, but without the team, without the squad, then moments of individual glory are not possible,” Chamberon
says. A six match preparation in Australia included a match against Hyundai A-League side Central Coast Mariners that
resulted in a 0-5 defeat – Chamberon says the match gave his players an insight into the professional attitude and intensity. “This game was good for us, but the other matches were hastily arranged and we had little time to prepare and sometimes our opponents turned out to be of a lower standard than we expected,” he
says. New Caledonia drew with Fiji (1-1) and defeated Tuvalu (1-0), Tahiti (1-0), Tonga (3-0), Solomon Islands
(3-2) and Fiji (1-0) to finish the SPG undefeated. New Caledonia will face off against Fiji, New Zealand and
Vanuatu for the final FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff against the fifth placed team in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in November, 2009.