OFC Auckland, 19 May 2004: The Stage 1 preliminaries of the 2004 OFC Nations Cup/2006 FIFA World Cup tournament enters the final round of action starting today in the Solomon Islands with the Group 1 final standings to be decided when hosts Solomon Islands take on Tahiti while New Caledonia plays Tonga.
Over in Samoa, the Group 2 final standings will be decided tomorrow when Fiji plays Vanuatu in what promises to be a titanic struggle while Papua New Guinea will look for a big win over Samoa to improve its chances of taking the second qualifying spot to advance to Stage 2, which will be staged in Adelaide, Australia from 29 May – 6 June.
The Solomon Islands and Fiji have already booked their places for Stage 2 and will look to consolidate their positions to gain a more favourable draw when they take on Tahiti and Vanuatu respectively. Both sides though will be wary of being overconfident or complacent because of their advantage on the points ladder.
A strong Solomon Islands line-up was beaten by Tahiti 2-0 in the previous World Cup qualifiers in 2001. A year later in the OFC Nations Cup in Auckland, Tahiti again pulled one out of the hat when they fought back from a 0-2 deficit to beat the Solomons 3-2.
In that same tournament, Fiji were beaten 1-0 in an upset loss to Vanuatu. The two sides met again at the South Pacific Games last year with a nil all draw the result. Another close result is expected tomorrow when the two sides clash. Vanuatu needs to at least draw with Fiji to qualify for Stage 2 but a loss could be disastrous if Papua New Guinea beats Samoa and scores the required goals to overtake them on goal difference. Samoa will look to end their campaign on a high in front of their home supporters and will make sure PNG earns a victory.
The Solomon Islands are well rested after a bye in round 4 and ready for the Tahitians who like Vanuatu also need a draw to qualify. But they have not been at their best in the previous matches struggling in the goal-scoring department. They face a revitalised Solomon Island side led by Englishman Alan Gillett who has transformed the team into a well-oiled unit which has romped to one sided victories against Cook Islands, Tonga and New Caledonia. Add the home advantage into the mix and the Tahitians will certainly have their work cut out for them. But Oceania’s third ranked nation has the talent to cause an upset.
New Caledonia is favoured to win handsomely against Tonga in their last pool match and they will be looking for maximum points to boost their goal difference in the event that Tahiti loses. They are behind by three points but hold a two goal advantage in goal difference over Tahiti. However, their fate lies in the result of the clash between the Group 1 hosts and Tahiti.
In yesterday’s final round 4 matches in Apia, American Samoa were thrashed by PNG 10-0 with striker Reginald Davani leading the onslaught with four superb goals, while the Group 2 hosts, Samoa, put on a spirited first half performance despite their huge injury toll, to hold the Fijians to only a solitary goal by giant striker Veresa Toma. But weary legs in the second half saw the Samoans eventually go down 4-0, their lack of finishing power up front sorely exposed against their more clinical opponents. (MATCH REPORTS FOR ROUND 4 GROUP 2 FIXTURES BELOW)
FULL RESULTS (after round 4 in both groups):
Group 1 Results (after round 4)
10/05 – Solomon Islands 6-0 Tonga
10/05 – Tahiti 2-0 Cook Islands
12/05 – Solomon Islands 5-0 Cook Islands
12/05 – Tahiti 0-0 New Caledonia
15/05 – Tonga 2-1 Cook Islands
15/05 – Solomons 2-0 New Caledonia
17/05 – New Caledonia 8-0 Cook Islands
17/05 – Tahiti 2-0 Tonga
GROUP 1 Points Ladder
Teams P W D L F A D Pts
Solomon Is 3 3 0 0 13 0 +13 9
Tahiti 3 2 1 0 4 0 +4 7
New Caledonia 3 1 1 1 8 2 +6 4
Tonga 3 1 0 2 2 9 -7 3
Cook Islands 4 0 0 4 1 17 -16 0
Group 2 Results (after round 4)
10/05 – PNG 1-1 Vanuatu
10/05 – Samoa 4-0 Am Samoa
12/05 – Am Samoa 1-9 Vanuatu
12/05 – Fiji 4-2 PNG
15/05 – Fiji 11-0 Am Samoa
15/05 – Samoa 0-3 Vanuatu
17/05 – PNG vs American Samoa 10-0
17/05 – Samoa vs Fiji 0-4
GROUP 2 Points Ladder
Teams P W D L F A Dif Pts
Fiji 3 3 0 0 19 2 +17 9
Vanuatu 3 2 1 0 13 2 +11 7
PNG 3 1 1 1 13 5 +8 4
Samoa 3 1 0 2 4 7 -3 3
Am Samoa 4 0 0 4 1 34 -33 0
Round 5 draw (final round):
Wednesday, 19 May 2004 (Group 1 Honiara) – local time (today NZT/AEST)
Round 5:
New Caledonia vs Tonga 2:00pm
Solomon Islands vs Tahiti 4:00pm
Cook Islands bye
Wednesday, 19 May 2004 (Group 2 Apia) – local time (tomorrow NZT/AEST)
Round 5:
Fiji vs Vanuatu 2:00pm
Samoa vs Papua New Guinea 4:00pm
American Samoa bye
2004 OFC Nations Cup/FIFA World Cup – Stage 1 (Group 2) Preliminaries
Apia, Samoa 10-19 May 2004
Round 4 Review – 17 May 2004
Match 8: Samoa vs Fiji
Full-time score: 0-4 Fiji
Half-time score: 0-1 Fiji
Goal-scorers: (10) Veresa Toma 17′; (22) Waisake Sabutu 52′; (12) Esala Masinisau 82′; (17) Seveci Rokotakala 86′
Cautions: none
Expulsions: none
Weather: Fine
Crowd Attendance: 450+
Match Officials
Referee: Constantinos Diomis (Australia)
Assistant Referee 1: Michel Angot (Tahiti)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Tauaroa (Tahiti)
Fourth Official: Matthew Breeze (Australia)
Match Commissioner: Bob Patterson (New Zealand)
Referee Inspector: Barry Such (Australia)
Team Lists (& Substitutions)
SAMOA
1 Moresi Tokuma
3 Amby Asafo
4 Dennis Bryce (-74′)
5 Edwin Tyrell
7 Junior Michael
8 Iosefa Maposua (-85′)
10 Jerome Taua
14 Pualele Lemana (c)
16 Sio Togamoa (-60′)
18 Peko Victor
19 Setefano Pesa
Subs:
2 Afasene Tusitala (+85′)
9 Iosefo Ioane (+74′)
11 Lene Epa
13 Otto Hunt (+60′)
17 Tofi Tumua
20 Fatuvalu Numia
Coach: David Brand
FIJI
1 Simione Tamanisau GK
2 Lorima Dau
4 Alvin Avinesh (-79′)
5 Emosi Baleinuku
8 Malakai Kainihewe
9 Thomas Vulivuli (-70′)
10 Veresa Toma
12 Esala Masinisau (c)
13 Taniela Waqa
16 Viliame Toma
22 Waisake Sabutu (-65′)
Subs:
21 Pene Erenio (+65′)
7 Stephen Morrel
14 Lagi Dyer (+70′)
17 Seveci Rokotakala (+79′)
23 Shamal Kumar
Coach: Tony Buesnel
Round 4 Review – 17 May 2004
Match 7: American Samoa vs Papua New Guinea
Full-time score: 10-0 PNG
Half-time score: 7-0 PNG
Goal-scorers: PNG – (10) Reginald Davani 23′, 24′, 40′, 79′; (13) Andrew Lepani 26′, 28′, 64′; (7) Maurie Wasi 34′; (17) Paul Komboi 37′; (12) Michael Lohai 71′
Cautions: AMS – (18) Duane Atuelevao 15′ ; (17) Savaliga Afu 69′
Expulsions: none
Weather: Fine
Crowd Attendance: 150+
Match Officials
Referee: Michael Afu (Solomon Islands)
Assistant Referee 1: Neil Poloso (Solomon Islands)
Assistant Referee 2: David Sau (Solomon Islands)
Fourth Official: Neil Fox (New Zealand)
Match Commissioner: Bob Patterson (New Zealand)
Referee Inspector: Barry Such (Australia)
Team Lists (& Substitutions)
AMERICAN SAMOA
1 Nicky Salapu (c) GK
2 Ben Segaiga (-70′)
3 Maika Molesi
4 Pati Sinapati (-15′)
5 Uasi Heleta
6 Ace Lepou (-75′)
8 Viliamu Vaofanua
9 Ramin Ott
16 Tanu Junior Tanu
17 Savaliga Afu
18 Duane Atuelevao
Subs:
22 Iapesa Fanolua
10 Willie Fa’ataualofa (+75′)
11 Vaueli Nuusila (+15′)
13 Geoffrey Sua
19 Roy Amep
erosa (+70′)
Coach: Ian Crook
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1 Tapas Posman GK
5 Selan Elizah
6 Hans Fred
7 Maurie Wasi (-60′)
9 Richard Daniel (c)
10 Reginald Davani
11 Nathaniel Lepani (-75′)
13 Andrew Lepani
14 Francis Moiyap
16 Yanding Tomda
17 Paul Komboi
Subs:
2 Brian Tuhiana
3 Geoffrey Imang
4 Billy Tomou
8 Abraham Enoch
12 Michael Lohai (+60′)
15 Spencer Marnhi
18 Ericson Komeng
19 Adrian Komu (+75′)
20 Geoffrey Baniau
Coach: Ludwig Peka