While there’s still plenty of jockeying for places to come, only six teams remain in the hunt for a semi-final berth and while some are more likely than others, nobody is yet confirmed in the knockout round.
Each group winner advances to the final four but there’s a wildcard up for grabs for the highest-ranked runner-up.
Among the competing six are FC Gaitcha, the newcomers from New Caledonia in Group A.
Gaitcha were humbled in their competition debut, falling 3-0 to a Ba side which has risen to the top of their pool, but rebounded well to record a 5-2 win over AS Pirae in their second match.
They now go into Saturday’s game against Samoan champions Lupe Ole Soaga with the knowledge that anything short of victory will see them eliminated from contention. The required margin of victory, though, remains a mystery.
Despite the uncertainty, striker Bertrand Kai says preparations over the past three days have been unchanged, and that his side are realistic about their chances.
“We’re preparing as we always do, and have done for the other teams,” he says. “We’re not stressing about it, we’re staying humble and we’re not favourites to qualify. We will continue to do our best with the quality that we have and from there – we will see.”
But he warns that Gaitcha have prepared well for Lupe.
“We’ll tear everything up to win this match. We’ve got passion. We’ll be ready.”
Kai, a former OFC Player of the Year, scored one and assisted another in the win against Pirae but could have had a hat-trick if luck was on his side.
There will be a weight on his shoulders as his side hopes to pile on the goals to put pressure on its rivals both at Govind Park and in Suva.
With any victory, Kevin Coma’s side faces an anxious wait before learning their fate.
Gaitcha plays Lupe at 4:30pm, but all will not be clear until Ba plays after them and Amicale takes on Auckland City (also at 7pm) on the other side of the country.
Coma says his side will leave nothing to chance. “It’s going to be a decisive match because if we win, we could secure the best second-place and possibly a place in the semi-final,” he says. “We’re going to do everything we can to score as many goals as possible because it is the goal difference which could be the decider.”
Coma identified qualification as a key objective for the team before the tournament kicked off, noting that the chance to bring with them a second team from New Caledonia next year was a major incentive.
It’s a goal shared by Kai; “it was one of our objectives with AS Magenta last year, we finished second in the group but didn’t qualify,” he says. “Here is another opportunity for us with Gaitcha and it would be great for Caledonian football to have two teams [in the Champions League].”
Gaitcha could still qualify as winner of Group A, but would require Ba to lose against Pirae and a hefty goal swing going against the hosts.
With six points, Gaitcha would need to at least match Hekari’s result against Tefana on Friday night and hope that the Navy Blues beat Amicale the next day.
An Amicale victory would do, but it would again require the most unlikely of goal swings against defending champions Auckland.
A draw in a long-awaited re-match of last year’s final will knock the New Caledonians out.
But all Gaitcha can do is focus on defeating Paul Ualesi’s gritty Samoans; who have proved this year that they’re never beaten until they’re beaten.
Win that, and Coma can pull the calculator out of his back pocket.

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