Fiji – Papua New Guinea match summary click here
The Fijians had prepared more extensively for the tournament than most of their rivals – they have been together since last January and arrived in Auckland over a month ago – but their title challenge got off to the worst possible start when Ravinesh Singh was ordered from the field in just the second minute.
Singh’s afternoon was over almost before it had began when he jumped with Papua New Guinea goalkeeper Jacob Senat to meet a bouncing ball but caught his opponent in the face and was adjudged to have raised his foot dangerously high.
Despite being a man down for very nearly the entirety of the game, Fiji did not go into defensive mode and managed to carve out several chances in an evenly-matched first half.
The first arrived in the 17th minute when Abbu Shaheed make good progress down the left and fired off a shot that flew across the face of goal.
Papua New Guinea were next to threaten as Brett Seriba curled a well-flighted free kick just over the bar from 25 yards in the 21st minute. They went close again five minutes later when Nigel Dabingyaba got on the end of a high cross and looped a header towards the target, forcing goalkeeper Akuila Mateisuva to shuffle backwards and tip it over the bar.
But the most dramatic moment of the half was still to come. The Fiji goal appeared to lead a charmed existance in the 31st minute when Papua New Guinea striker Lap Embel got to a bouncing through ball and lobbed an effort over Mateisuva.
It appeared to be dropping into the net but instead struck the crossbar before bouncing on the line and hitting the right-hand post. Fiji were awarded a free kick in the ensuing goalmouth melee to relieve the pressure and keep the scoreboard out of action.
Amazingly, that wasn’t the best chance of the first period and Fiji really should have made light of their one-man disadvantage by going into the break 1-0 up. Indeed, Shaheed is unlikely to get a more straightforward chance to score than the one that presented itself at his feet in the 43rd minute.
Fellow forward Misaele Draunibaka broke down the left and squared for his strike partner to have what appeared to be the simplest of tap-ins. But goalkeeper Senat spread himself well and Shaheed could not find a way through.
There were less clear-cut chances in a tense second spell but Fiji’s Josua Tawake sparked excitement amongst the sizeable crowd in the 77th minute when his speculative effort from well outside the box sped narrowly past Senat’s post.
There was time for one more good chance as Fiji looked to break the deadlock, substitute Jone Salauneune finding room for himself in the box with some good skill but seeing his shot half-blocked and falling harmlessly wide.
Fiji coach Ravinesh Kumar was frustrated not to begin with a win but refused to blame the sending off for his side’s failure to take three points.
“We accept the referee’s decision because he is the main man on the field – if he thinks he’s right then you cannot argue with that,” he says.
“We would have done better with 11 players obviously but even with 10 we created some good chances and still could have won the match. It just wasn’t our day. We are still optimistic of making the semi-finals but we will have to work on our discipline because we can’t afford to have any more cards.”
Papua New Guinea’s Max Foster was by far the more pleased of the two coaches.
“Fiji are one of the favourites for the tournament so it’s a good achievement for my boys to be able to match them,” he says.
“They had a few chances to score but we had a great one too when the ball bounced off the bar and the post. If Vanuatu can hold Fiji to a draw as well then we have a good chance of going through.”