LAUTOKA: A huge crowd is expected tonight at Lautoka’s Churchill Park for the crunch semi-finals of the South Pacific Games men’s football tournament. Fiji and Vanuatu prevailed in Pool A and will meet Tahiti and New Caledonia respectively from Pool B.
Over six thousand were present last Monday for Fiji’s epic 2-1 win over Melanesian rivals, Solomon Islands, to clinch their place in the top four. It was a mammoth effort from the under fire Fijian team playing at home and with high expectations of coach, Tony Buesnel and the team.
And the best news for them ahead of their clash with defending champions Tahiti is that their number one strike weapon, Esala Masi, is in devastating goal scoring form. He has scored nine goals in just four games and is the tournament’s second leading goal scorer behind Commins Menapi of the Solomon Islands who tallied ten goals but will not be able to add to this total as his team have been knocked out of contention. Like Menapi, Masi is used to the pressure-cooker situations having played in Australia’s NSL and his experience in leading side will be a crucial factor against the powerful Tahitians.
Tahiti faces a daunting task playing the home team but have the firepower to trouble the Fijians. It was expected these two sides would meet in the final, however, the Tahitians were given a reality check after being thrashed 0-4 by New Caledonia in the Pool B round robin. That result will unlikely happen again and may be the motivator that they need to overcome what many anticipate will be a red hot atmosphere at Churchill Park.
The Fijian defence were on song against the Solomon Islands keeping both Batram Suri and Henry Fa’arodo at bay and only conceding a late consolation goal to Menapi. But the likes of Lorima Dau and Ratu Veresa Toma will need to step up even more against twin Tahitian threats, Felix Tagawa and Naea Bennett. Bennett has scored eight goals in the tournament (3rd) while Tagawa has scored seven. Tagawa is Tahiti’s recognised star based in Australia’s NSL with the Brisbane Strikers.
The other semi-final will be just as enthralling as Vanuatu takes on tournament upstarts New Caledonia. New Caledonia have been the most impressive side so far winning four from four and including big wins over Tahiti and Papua New Guinea. Most importantly, they did not concede any goals in the round robin. They can thank the tireless work of captain and central defender Jean Marc-Case who is a terrific communicator at the back defusing long balls and crosses with ease using his athleticism and leaping ability to good effect. The scoring load has been evenly spread with Michel Hmae and Paul Poatinda leading the way. They have prepared well under coach Serge Martinengo de Novack who has turned the side right around from its disappointing performance at last year’s OFC Nations Cup. But this time he has been fortunate to have available his talent Tahitian based strike duo of Hmae and Ramon Djamali.
Vanuatu has blazed a slightly more arduous trail than the three other semi-finalists. Lining up against a refreshed New Caledonia team, who had a bye in the last round, they had to overcome a horror schedule that saw them play both Fiji and the Solomon Islands in their first two games and on consecutive days. They drew both matches, struggled to a 1-0 win over defensive minded Tuvalu then in the last round were able to at last spread their wings piling on 18 unanswered goals against hapless Kiribati. Vanuatu’s front men have not always fired in the tournament thus far but against the best team with the best defensive record, they will need to have their scoring boots on. Vanuatu coach Carlos Buzzetti will expect his first choice forwards Etienne Mermer and Richard Iwai to again produce as they did against Kiribati.
The winners of the two semi-finals advance to the gold medal final on Friday at the National Stadium in Suva. The two losing semi-finalists will playoff in a curtain-raiser for the bronze medal.
DAY 8 schedule, Wednesday, 9 July:
MEN’S SEMI-FINALS at Churchill Park, Lautoka
5:00pm – Pool A winner, Fiji vs Pool B runners up, Tahiti
7:00pm – Pool B winner, New Caledonia vs Pool A runners up, Vanuatu
DAY 10 schedule, Friday, 11 July:
FINALS at National Stadium, Suva
5:00pm – Bronze Medal Playoff
7:00pm – Gold/Silver Playoff
9:30pm – Medal Ceremony
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2003 South Pacific Games football tournament, Suva Fiji
Men: 30 June-11 July / Women: 30 June-10 July
DAY 7 REVIEW – Mon, 7 Jul 2003
MEN (results round five) – at Churchill Park, Lautoka
Pool A – Kiribati vs Vanuatu 0-18 (ht 0-10)
Pool B – Tahiti vs Tonga 4-0 (ht 2-0)
Pool B – Papua New Guinea vs FSM 10-0 (ht 5-0)
Pool A – Fiji vs Solomon Islands 2-1 (ht 2-0)
New Caledonia, Tuvalu bye
Pool A - Final Standings
POS TEAM P W D L For Ag Pts GD
1 Fiji 4 3 1 0 18 1 10 +17
2 Vanuatu 4 2 2 0 21 2 8 +19
3 Solomon Is 4 2 1 1 14 4 7 +10
4 Tuvalu 4 1 0 3 3 11 3 -8
5 Kiribati 4 0 0 4 2 40 0 -38
Pool B - Final Standings
POS TEAM P W D L For Ag Pts GD
1 New Caledonia 4 4 0 0 28 0 12 +28
2 Tahiti 4 3 0 1 24 4 9 +20
3 PNG 4 1 1 2 12 7 4 +5
4 Tonga 4 1 1 2 9 10 4 -1
5 FSM 4 0 0 4 0 52 0 -52
* Pool A winner Fiji will play Pool B runner up Tahiti in first semi-final
* Pool B winner New Caledonia will play Pool A runner up Vanuatu in second semi-final
* Semi-finals to be played on Wednesday, 9 July at 5:00pm and 7:00pm at Churchill Park, Lautoka
TOP GOAL-SCORERS (MEN)
Commins Menapi (SOL) – 10 goals
Esala Masi (FIJ) – 9 goals
Naea Bennett (TAH) – 8 goals
Felix Tagawa (TAH) – 7 goals
Paul Poatinda (NCL) – 7 goals
Michel Hmae (NCL) – 5 goals
Etienne Mermer (VAN) – 5 goals
Richard Iwai (VAN) – 5 goals
Seimata Chilia (VAN) – 4 goals
Unulolo Feao (TON) – 4 goals
Ramon Djamali (NCL) – 3 goals
Lamel Kabeu (NCL) – 3 goals
Pierre Wajoka (NCL) – 3 goals
Heimano Guyon (TAH) – 3 goals