The two French nations didn’t meet in 2013, after being placed in separate groups, and both finished the tournament with varying degrees of success.
Tahiti dominated their Oceania compatriots before holding their own against the much favoured Asian Football Confederation guests. After being downed just 2-0 by eventual winners Australia, Tahiti took Malaysia to the line in the semi-final holding them to a 3-3 draw and forcing a penalty shootout. They lost by just one goal, 4-3, and had to settle for the third place play-off. They battled hard against an experienced New Zealand but were beaten 1-0.
For New Caledonia it was a different story.
Downed 8-3 by Malaysia and 7-4 by Solomon Islands and 7-2 by New Zealand in Group A they were then beaten 4-2 by the New Zealand Invitational to finish the competition at the bottom of the standings. The side scored 11 goals, but conceded 26 – showing the frailty of their defensive tactics.
After Tahiti’s opening defeat to Vanuatu they will no doubt be using this match to get their campaign back on track. While New Caledonia will be hoping to redeem themselves for last year in front of a home crowd.
Tahiti coach Heitapu Hunter believes his side has the mentality to put their opening loss behind them and focus on the next task.
“I think that our strategy isn’t bad, it’s just that we couldn’t score goals. Today we will do the same things against New Caledonia and hope that we’ll be a little luckier with our goals.”
His side will get their first run today after an opening bye and New Caledonia coach
William Bret says it was good to see the teams in action ahead of their first hit out.
“That was a good chance to see how they play, at what speed. We know that Tahiti is a good, strong side. They’ve been training together for a long time so we know that it will interesting – but we’ll have to wait for the result on the court,” he says.
Bret is in two-minds as to whether an encounter with Tahiti last year would have been of benefit for today’s encounter.
“Having seen a number of changes to players, and to the system of their game, I think now it doesn’t matter whether we played them last year or not,” he states.
“I think tonight will be a discovery of sorts, and we will see whether we are capable of beating this great Tahitian side.”
While the game will come down to his players and how they perform, Bret will also be counting on the support of the local crowd.
“Of course the support of the public is going to help and we know that the local Caledonians are going to be behind us and that will benefit the players for sure. There is a big hill to climb and the public will help with that but physical condition, concentration and our technical ability will be key to our success.”
The results on Match Day 1 have certainly set up a thrilling match-up between Vanuatu and New Zealand in this evening’s second game.
Both sides looked comfortable as they dominated their opening matches to earn 4-1 victories, with Vanuatu’s win one of the most surprising.
New Zealand will have to be wary of the pace, transition speed and on-the-ball ability of Louis Dominique’s side if they hope to add a second consecutive win. But Vanuatu will have to be equally careful of the Kiwis.
While they dominated their opener, Vanuatu were perhaps also a little lucky not to concede on several occasions as Tahiti were let down by their ability to finish. New Zealand will not be so kind as youngster Jan Fischer and company proved yesterday.
And that’s something Dominique is acutely aware of.
“As I’ve said before we’re taking it game-by-game. We know New Zealand is a very strong side so we will try and work something out and will try our best to play well against them,” he explains.
“We saw them playing on Tuesday night and from my point-of-view, from last year’s tournament I think they’ve improved a lot.”
Dominque’s New Zealand counterpart Scott Gilligan says his side did well in their opening game but there’s still work to do.
“We’re approaching the game much the same as we did the first one. We know it’s four tough games,” he says.
“Vanuatu are a different kettle of fish to Malaysia. I think Malaysia didn’t play their normal game on Tuesday night, and we didn’t let them to be honest – but Vanuatu will be a lot more explosive and they’ll leave a lot more space as well.
“We’ve just got to be wary because they’re probably a lot quicker and a lot more unpredictable as well. Fingers crossed and we’ll see what happens.”
Extra Information:
OFC Futsal Championship Invitational – MATCH DAY 2 PREVIEW
This is the official preview of Match Day 2. Please note squads are subject to change.
Tahiti v New Caledonia
18h local time, Wednesday 13 August
Arene du Sud
Paita, New Calédonia
TAHvNCL
Match officials:
Referee: Francis RONI [SOL]
Second Referee: Philip MANA [SOL]
Third Referee: Chris SINCLAIR [NZL]
Timekeeper: Love Lui MALENARAVE [VAN]
Tahiti: 1. Hauarii HIOE (GK), 2. Steeven TINO, 3. Steeve WONG, 4. Junior CAO, 5. Jacob TUTAVAE, 6. Alexis TOOFA, 7. Gabriel KAVERA, 8. Teivarii KAIHA, 9. Anderson TINO, 10. Teaonui TEHAU, 12. Smith TINO, 17. Gerard TETAUIRA (GK)
Coach: Heitapu HUNTER [TAH]
New Caledonia: 1. Ronan EUZEN (GK), 2. Ronald GAYON, 3. Dorian BAMY, 4. Mainon KAOUWI, 5. Ivan POUROURORO, 6. Jess POUARAIROUA, 7. Loic CAUNES, 8. Romain GUITTON, 9. Anderson PAULIN, 10. Eric SAIHULIWA, 11. Ludovic BOIT, 12. Malick PAULET
Coach: William BRETT [NCL]
New Zealand v Vanuatu
20h local time, Wednesday 13 August
Arene du Sud
Paita, New Calédonia
NZLvVAN
Match officials:
Referee: Stephane UPA [NCL]
Second Referee: Amitesh BEHARI [FIJ]
Third Referee: Jainut DEAN [FIJ]
Timekeeper: Kamendra NAIDU [FIJ]
New Zealand: 1. Atta ELAYYAN (GK), 3. Dylan MANICKUM, 6. Kareem OSMAN, 7. Marvin EAKINS, 8. Daniel BURNS, 9. Jakub SINKORA, 10. Jan FISCHER, 11. Lucas CORDEIRO OSORIO DA SILVA, 12. Mohamed Hicham KAMRI, 14. James VAUGHAN, 15. Ouadhah RAGUED, 18. Elias BILLEH (GK)
Coach: Scott GILLIGAN [AUS]
Vanuatu: 1. Glendon MASAI (GK), 2. Terry MALAPA, 3. Ricky TUIGALOA, 4. Dudley DOMINIQUE, 5. Jacky JOHN, 6. Joseph HANGHANGKON, 7. Ben HUNGAI, 8. Pakoa JEREMY, 9. Donald AVOCK, 10. Albert THO, 11. George MAHIT, 12. Ivano PHILIP (GK)
Coach: Louis DOMINIQUE [VAN]