SAKAMA RETURN BOLSTERS VANUATU HOPES

WELLINGTON – Vanuatu coach Robert Calvo will be looking for fortune to smile on his team tonight following his nation’s heart-breaking 2-1 loss to New Zealand at Port Vila Municipal
Stadium.

Calvo and his side delivered a stirring performance for a fanatical home crowd but just fell short of earning a deserved point when substitute David Mulligan scored a 94th minute
injury-time winner for New Zealand.

Vanuatu will be without the services of experienced defender Geoffrey Lego Gete who was booked in the Port Vila match with Samson Obed drafted into the squad to compensate. Obed –
who becomes the eighth Tafea FC player in the 20-man squad – has extensive international and club experience after appearing at XIII South Pacific Games – Samoa 2007.

The good news for Vanuatu is the return of mercurial youngster Francois Sakama who missed out on the last match with New Zealand because of suspension. Sakama has been in electric
form for the best part of 2007 after a string of impressive performances at the OFC U-20 Men’s Championship – New Zealand 2007 and XIII South Pacific Games – Samoa 2007.

Sakama will operate in the hole just behind the front strike pair of Jean Nako Naprapol and Seule Soromon where he played with devastating effect against Solomon Islands during the
2-0 win in the bronze medal match.

Goalkeeper Chikau Mansale who was stretchered off injured with 12 minutes remaining in Port Vila has traveled with the Vanuatu squad but it is uncertain whether the 24-year-old will
start the match after damaging his ankle whilst making an acrobatic save from a Leo Bertos cross.

If Mansale does not make Vanuatu’s starting eleven it’s likely his replacement will be David Chilia – Vanuatu’s one-time undisputed number one goalkeeper for the past 15
years.

Chilia has not been in his best form of late and he will want to forget how he flapped at the cross which led to David Mulligan’s late winner – a pattern that started in the O-League
when a Chilia error led to Tafea FC’s last minute defeat to Ba after the custodian was chipped after straying too far off his line. It is understood that Mansale will undergo a late fitness test
before Calvo divulges the exact composition of his starting eleven.

A team spokesman said the mood in the Vanuatu camp was one of optimism but said the team faced a difficult challenge in reproducing a similar performance to the one that caught the
imagination on Saturday.

“Playing to the same level could be difficult for two reasons: one, Vanuatu has never played the same quality of opponent twice in the same week before and two, we are missing four
key players from the weekend: Geoffry lego Gete, Alphonse Welin Qorig, Hubert Nake and Pita Maki.”

The four-strong contingent enjoyed exceptional form with the experience of Qorig sure to be missed alongside exciting youngsters Nake and Maki. The good news for Vanuatu is the
return of Sakama and Philip Tom Tomake with Kalorib Ephraim all joining the squad.

Philip Tom Tomake stars regularly for the Yatel FC in Vanuatu’s PVFA VB League Championship competition and compensates in part for the loss of Qorig and Maki.

“Many of our players cannot escape work commitments and therefore do not travel. Like other teams we face the challenge of assembling our best players at the same time.

We felt we let the match slip away from us on Saturday but the players have put the disappointment of the weekend behind us and the team is confident that we have a good chance of
achieving something in this match,” the spokesman said.

• Vanuatu’s preparations for the crucial OFC Nations Cup/2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifier have been dealt an unwelcome blow with the team’s playing kit lost during
transit from Port Vila to New Zealand. Robert Calvo’s side may take to Westpac Trust Stadium in an all red strip unless their preferred playing kit is recovered or a suitable replacement
found.

VANUATU: 1. David CHILIA (Tafea FC); 2. Andrew CHICHIRUA; 3. Jacques MAFIL NAWAN; 4. Kalorib EPHRAIM ; 5. Fedy VAVA ; 6. Ken MASAVAKALOU ; 7. Moise POIDA ; 8. Philip Tom TOMAKE ; 9.
Jean Nako NAPRAPOL ; 10. Seule SOROMON ; 11. Rickson TARI ; 12. Fenedy MASAVAKALOU ; 13. Francois SAKAMA ; 145. Jeffry NIMANIAN ; 19. Derek MALAS ; 20. Chikau MANSALE ; 21. Jean Robert YELOU ; 24.
Rexly TARIVATU.

Coach : Robert CALVO

Official: William MALAS.

OFC Nations Cup/2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifier

Kick-off: 1800hrs (NZT)/1600hrs (VANT)

LIVE COVERAGE:

For live coverage of OFC Nations Cup/2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifier please visit www.radiosport.co.nz for commentary of all the action from Westpac Trust Stadium

Radio Sport commentary can also be heard on radio in New Zealand 1332AM in Auckland.

The All Whites are battling their way towards the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa and tvnz.co.nz and ONE Sport will be following them all the way as they bid to qualify for
the sport’s biggest tournament.

 Ricki Herbert’s men sit top of the Oceania qualifying group after two away wins and now face Vanuatu on Wednesday.

The game from Wellington is LIVE on tvnz.co.nz README.md TGA_articles_csv-utf8.txt convert2wp.sh convertcsv2wp.sh convertsql2csv.sh cook examples fij file_tmp hello.txt ncl netfenua.wordpress.2016-09-14.xml ofc output output-problems.txt process-utf8.txt salomon samoa sed.txt sed_diese.txt temp.csv temp_br.csv temp_noaddthis.csv temp_nodash.csv temp_unline.csv temp_utf8.csv test.txt test.xml test2.txt test2.xml test_diese.txt tftnisipf.wordpress.2016-09-09.xml tonga urlencode.sed vanuatu and on TVNZ Sport Extra on Freeview from1800hrs (NZT), with TV ONE showing delayed coverage of the game at 10.35pm.

 (TVNZ coverage only available in New Zealand)