After losing to Spain by the same margin on Friday, Tahiti are now out of the running for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009 while Venezuela have booked their place in the last 16 along with Italy who beat Nigeria 2-0 in the other Group B match.
Venezuela proved too strong for the World Cup debutants at Al Salam Stadium putting away three goals in the first half and a further five after the break – making the most of a two-man advantage. Yonathan Del Valle and Jose Rondon led the way with hat-tricks while Jose Manuel Velasquez and Oscar Rojas also got on the score sheet.
La Vinotinto opened the scoring in the fourth minute, when Francisco Flores’ cross from the left was headed home by Jose Rondon, who rose above the challenge of Jay Warren to loop the ball over goalkeeper Teheipuari Hauata.
Fifteen minutes later it was 2-0, the unmarked Jose Manuel Velasquez diverting Louis Pena’s corner into the net at the far post. Tahiti were dealt a hammer blow in the 26th minute when Stephane Faatiarau received his marching orders for a professional foul on Del Valle and Rondon made no mistake from the resulting spot-kick.
Worse was to come for the islanders seven minutes before half-time when Garry Rochette received his second yellow for a foul on Pena.
With the match over as a meaningful contest, the pace slowed considerably in the second half. In the 71st minute the game was reignited when Oscar Rojas curled a left-footed free-kick over the wall and past the outstretched dive of Hauata.
Del Valle added a fifth with 12 minutes to go when he slotted the ball past the keeper after being played in by Rondon. He then latched onto a Rojas left-wing cross to grab his second and Venezuela’s sixth before completing a 13-minute hat trick after collecting Jose Parra’s side-footed pass and firing past the keeper.
Although Lorenzo Tehau and Steevy Chong Hue flashed shots just wide of the upright for Tahiti in the first half, the opportunities in the second half were few and far between.
Venezuela will now look to defeat Spain in their final group game to secure their place at the section’s summit, while Tahiti will have a chance to salvage some pride against Nigeria on Thursday.
For match details and full tournament coverage visit www.fifa.com/u20worldcup