Tahiti’s team of amateurs, ranked 138th in the world, found the back of the net thanks to Jonathan Tehau in a moment that he will never forget.
The side were already 3-0 down at that point with Nigeria’s first goal coming courtesy of Tahiti captain Nicolas Vallar after he deflected a shot from Uwa Echiejile past his own goalkeeper Xavier Samin. Nigeria doubled their lead with a well-taken effort by Nnamdi Oduamad after a poor Tahiti pass was pounced upon and calmly slotted home by the forward. Oduamad soon had a brace after Ahmed Musa broke down the left and crossed only for Samin to spill the ball at the Nigerians feet allowing him to tap home.
There were loud cheers as Samin partially made up for that earlier mistake with a brave challenge on Anthony Ujah who had gone one-on-one with the Tahiti custodian.
The moment of the game came when Tahiti scored their historic goal. The side’s only professional player Marama Vahirua whipped a corner to the back post, where a rising Tehau thumped his header past Vincent Enyeama. The celebrations by the players on the pitch and from coach Eddy Etaeta on the sideline where something to behold as the Tahitians revelled in the limelight, performing their paddle celebration in honour of Va’a, one of Tahiti’s most popular sports.
They were soon brought back down to earth as their heroic goalscorer got on the scoreboard again, poking an Oduamadi cross past his own goalkeeper while under pressure from Brown Ideye – earning the unfortunate title of becoming the first player to score at both ends during a Confederations Cup match. Oduamadi completed his hat-trick a short time later with a simple tap-in, with Echiejile completing the rout with his second.
Nigeria, ranked over 100 places higher than Tahiti at 31st in the world, wasted a series of chances to make the scoreline more damaging for the Tahtitians for whom a string of defensive errors proved costly enough.
While many, including coach Etaeta, had feared the team would not provide a good image for Tahitian football to score in their opening match and have as many shots as they did came as a welcome surprise.
“I was deeply moved, almost crying,” he said following the match. “We watch World Cups on TV. Today we were the actors. Tahiti was watching. Our President sent us a message and suspended a cabinet meeting for it.”
Vahirua said having the support of their country as well as all the Brazilian fans in the stadium was a huge boost to the side.
“We want to thank the Brazilian fans for their support, it helped us play such a great game. For us, it is a win to be on a pitch with Nigeria. We can be really proud of our performance today. The next game against Spain will be a dream.”
Nigerian goalscorer Oduamadi said his side perhaps underestimated the Tahitians ahead of the match.
“They came out to fight like lions. It was a bit difficult to up our game,” Oduamadi said.
“You know you’re playing against a team where, with the greatest respect to Tahiti, you think everyhing’s easy. They showed us that they can play football. That’s what we saw.”
Tahiti will face their biggest challenge to date during their next Group B match when they take on World Champions Spain at the prestigious Estadio Do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro on 20 June. They will then round out their group matches against Uruguay on 23 June.
For more on the world game go to www.fifa.com

Share