As early winners of the tournament, New Zealand have qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is set to take place in Turkey from June 21 to July 13.
Here’s a look at the action that’s in store across the two matches on the fifth day of the OFC U-20 Championship.
Papua New Guinea vs. Fiji – 2pm Friday 29 March
Both these sides will be playing for pride when they come face-to-face in their final match of the championship. Papua New Guinea have suffered three heavy defeats in a row, despite twice taking an early lead. Speedy winger Daniel Taylor has been a threat in every match and will be hard to replace if the injury he picked up in the 9-3 loss to New Caledonia keeps him sidelined tomorrow. Inspirational captain Alwin Komolong will have a tough job boosting morale among his team-mates but will have to lead by example if Papua New Guinea are to earn any consolation points. After a 4-0 defeat to New Zealand in what was essentially the tournament final yesterday, Fiji will have to pick themselves up and battle on in order to claim second spot on the table. Goalkeeper Senirusi Bokini made a number of outstanding saves against the Kiwis and will need to continue his run of form against a Papua New Guinea outfit who, despite their three defeats, have not had luck on their side so far and cannot be dismissed as an easy opponent. Both sides will take the field with depleted line-ups after suffering sending offs yesterday. Key striker Napolioni Qasevakatini, who has formed a dangerous partnership with Rusiate Matarerega, is unavailable for Fiji due to his double caution against New Zealand while Papua New Guinea will be without Papalau Awele and Jacob Sabua, who also both saw red yesterday.
In their own words
“We will try our best but we can’t force the players too hard because they haven’t played at this level before and we are still developing them to play like mature players. We just have to be careful with how we look to build them up.” – Papua New Guinea coach Wesley Waiwai
“It is still an important game because we need to try and come second in the Oceania region. There is still a future ahead for the players because we will try to build up this team to be part of the U-23 set up for the next Olympic qualifiers.” – Fiji coach Ravinesh Kumar
New Caledonia vs. Vanuatu – 4.30pm Friday 29 March
This clash is bound to be exciting as both sides chase their second win of the championship, with each team having previously tasted defeat at the hands of New Zealand and Fiji. The two sides have taken early leads in previous matches only to be chased down by their opponents and neither will be wanting to experience a repeat of that situation. New Caledonia have been playing an appealing brand of football, moving the ball around through a succession of quick passes as they build their attacks. The effectiveness of this approach was evident in their 9-3 win over Papua New Guinea, who could not cope with New Caledonia’s movement after being reduced to ten men in the first half. But captain Jean-Brice Wadriako will need to keep things tight at the back to keep the lethal Vanuatu strike force at bay. Vanuatu came close to upsetting New Zealand in their second match and dominated the eventual champions at times but were forced to settle for a 1-0 loss which ended their own title hopes. The offensive trio of captain Jean Kaltack, Bill Nicholls and Dalong Damalip, who leads the golden boot race with New Zealand’s Louis Fenton on four, are likely to cause trouble for New Caledonia and coach Matthieu Delcroix will have put plenty of time into working out how to shut them down. Kevin Shem has led the Vanuatu rearguard well but New Caledonia are the tournament’s joint top scorers with New Zealand so Shem and co will have to be on their toes.
In their own words
“After discussions with the boys following our two losses, our objective became winning our last two matches. I think they deserve a final victory based on the way they have played during all of their matches despite experiencing two defeats. Now we will try to get a good victory against Vanuatu.” – New Caledonia coach Matthieu Delcroix
“We will take this match seriously, we need to win it to finish on a high and make everybody happy. We have lost two matches already and don’t want to lose another one. We will approach this game like a final and I think we can beat New Caledonia because we are better defensively. They lost 3-2 to New Zealand whereas we only lost 1-0.” – Vanuatu coach Moise Poida
OFC U-20 Championship – Match Day 5 Preview
Papua New Guinea vs. Fiji
2pm local time, Friday 29 March
Govind Park
Ba, Fiji
Referee: Kader ZITOUNI [TAH]
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen SENGA [SOL]
Assistant Referee 2: Jackson NAMO [SOL]
4th Official: Norbert HAUATA [TAH]
Papua New Guinea: 1. Charles LEPANI [GK], 2. John RAY, 3. Otto KUSUNAN, 4. Ayrton YAGAS, 5. Daniel TAYLOR, 6. Emmanuel AIREM, 7. Raynard YOHANG, 8. Darren STEVEN, 9. Patrick AISA, 10. Charkstan AOPI, 11. Sana YATU, 12. Philadelphia VELA, 13. Tommy SEMMY, 14. Alwin KOMOLONG, 15. Philip STEVEN, 18. Francis PATRICK, 19. Pettyshen ELIJAH, 20. Ishmael POLE [GK]
Coach: Wesley WAIWAI [PNG]
Fiji: 1. Tevita KOROI [GK], 2. Antonio TUIVUNA, 3. Praneel NAIDU, 4. Jale DRELOA, 5. Rusiate MATAREREGA, 6. Kolinio SIVOKI, 7. Vineel NAIDU, 8. Setareki HUGHES, 9. Manasa NAWAKULA, 10. Junior RAO, 11. Jope MASIBALAVU, 12. Ratu NAKALEVU, 13. Jone SALAUNEUNE, 14. Josaia MASIWINI, 16. Sakaraia NAISUA, 17. Ravinesh DASS, 18. Tomasi TUICAKAU, 19. Kasim KHAN, 20. Senirusi BOKINI [GK]
Coach: Ravinesh KUMAR [FIJ]
New Caledonia vs. Vanuatu
4.30pm local time, Friday 29 March
Govind Park
Ba, Fiji
Referee: Salesh CHAND [FIJ]
Assistant Referee 1: Ravinesh KUMAR [FIJ]
Assistant Referee 2: Mark RULE [NZL]
4th Official: Gerald OIAKA [SOL]
New Caledonia: 1. Anthony AJAPUHNYA [GK], 2. Ernest MAPERI, 3. Matthieu PATRITTI, 4. Jean-Brice WADRIAKO, 5. Aquilas WAHNAPO, 6.Fonzy RANCHAIN, 7. Ben MALAKAI, 8. Michel WASSIN, 9. Bernard WAELUA, 10. Jordy XALITE, 11. Stephane TEIN-PADOM, 13. Jean-Pierre BOB, 14. Cedric DECOIRE, 15. Geordy GONY, 16. Renaldo NONMEU, 17. Bernard STREIFF, 18. David WADRA, 19. Louis WAIA, 20. Emmanuel HNASSON [GK]
Coach: Matthieu DELCROIX [NCL]
Vanuatu: 1. Seloni IARUEL [GK], 2. Raoul COULON, 3. Chanel OBED, 4. Jason BOTLENG, 5. Kevin SHEM, 6. Jais MALSARANI, 7. Barry MANSALE, 8. Jackson TASSO, 9. Jean KALTACK, 10. Bill NICHOLLS, 11. Ratu HUNGAI, 12. Santino MERMER, 13. Dalong DAMALIP, 14. Michel COULON, 15. Eric JOHNSAM, 16. Zica MANUHI, 17. Nicol TARI, 18. Philippe TABILIP, 19. Edwin BAI, 20. Kalo FIRIAM [GK]
Coach: Moise POIDA [VAN]