2021 in review – Tahitian side’s trek to France for cup tie  

As the year comes to an end the Oceania Football Confederation are counting down some of the best moments of 2021. 

The fact that Tahiti’s AS Vénus embarked 16,000kms across the world during the COVID-19 pandemic for a cup tie was reason enough to feature as one of the biggest moments of the year, but their competitive showing also deserves plenty of attention.  

While they didn’t manage to advance past Round 7 of the prestigious Coupe de France, the fight shown by Vénus in an eventual 2-0 loss Trélissac FC, who play in France’s fourth tier, was impressive, particularly given the Mahina-based side’s preparations were severely hindered by the COVID-19 restrictions in place in their homeland.  

The journey of AS Vénus attracted attention from a number of international media outlets including the BBC and proved a popular conversation topic for football fans around the world on social media.