New Zealand survives Solomons scare

ADELAIDE: New Zealand overcame a spirited and entertaining Solomon Islands unit but the 3-0 scoreline did not reflect the competitive nature of the round two contest played at Marden Sports Complex. In front of a vocal crowd of around 200 spectators, the New Zealanders struggled to contain the speedy island underdogs, particularly in the first…

New Zealand v Solomon Islands The opening match of round two of the 2004 OFC Nations Cup between New Zealand and the Solomon Islands is potentially the most crucial of the tournament. In one corner is New Zealand, who having lost to Australia last night are under immense pressure to post a win against the…

ADELAIDE: A first half goal to Socceroo midfielder Marc Bresciano was enough to hand Stage 2 hosts Australia, a comfortable 1-0 win over transtasman rivals New Zealand in Adelaide tonight. A careless tackle by All Whites defender Tony Lochhead in the 39th minute gave the Socceroos a direct free kick from a handy position in…

ADELAIDE, 29 May 2004: Fiji and Tahiti have played out scoreless draw in the first match of the double-header tonight at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide. In a sometimes torrid and physical encounter, the defence of both sides was up to the task yet there were chances aplenty for either side to break the deadlock. Round 1:…

ADELAIDE: The Solomon Islands have beaten Vanuatu 1-0 in the first match of the Stage 2 OFC Nations Cup-World Cup preliminaries in Adelaide today. Batram Suri scored the only goal of the match through a penalty in the second half after both sides went into the break scoreless. In a physical yet free flowing spectacle,…

OFC Auckland: The Tonga Football Association reaches a milestone this Saturday, 29 May when their FIFA Goal Project is inaugurated. It will be the sixth FIFA Goal Project inaugurated in the Oceania region. Situated in Atele just outside of Nuku’alofa, the Tongan capital, the FIFA funded facilities include the new Tonga FA headquarters, an academy…

OFC Auckland: The Oceania Football Confederation is pleased to announce the match officials for Stage 2 of the 2004 OFC Nations Cup/FIFA World Cup preliminary competition to be held in Adelaide, Australia from 29 May – 6 June. Lee Harmon of the Cook Islands, Tautulu Roebeck of Samoa and Madiu Andrew of Papua New Guinea…

OFC Auckland: With just days to go until the opening match of Stage 2 this weekend, all eyes are now fixed on Adelaide as Oceania’s top six soccer nations vie for the top two berths to the OFC Nations Cup and FIFA World Cup Oceania Zone final playoffs. Undoubtedly the feature match of the opening…

FIFA, Paris – At the FIFA Centennial Congress, the football association of New Caledonia was welcomed into the world football family as the 205th FIFA member association. The associations’ delegates also ratified an addition to the statutory provisions that govern eligibility to play for Association teams. Following yesterday’s celebrations and the Centennial matches in the…

APIA: Papua New Guinea has comfortably beaten Samoa 4-1 in the last match of the Stage 1 group qualifiers in Apia today. With Vanuatu’s shock win against Fiji ending their slim chance of qualifying for Stage 2, PNG kept focussed to win their second match of the tournament. Goals to Reginald Davani and Andrew Lepani…