His lengthy career has seen him play in the French top-flight for Nantes, Nice, Lorient, Nancy, Monaco and even with Panthrakikos in Greece.
Incredibly proud of his heritage, Vahirua took Tahiti to the World with his “paddler” goal celebration and he is happy to be returning home to where it all started.
“I have always been proud to say that I am Tahitian, that I come from a magnificent country, that I represent Tahiti,” Vahirua says.
“In making the “paddler” gesture every time I scored, that was the proof of this pride, that represents a lot for me.”
And while Vahirua may be stepping down from the professional stage, he’s by no means hanging up his boots. Instead, Vahirua will bring his talent and experience to Tahiti’s top league after signing for AS Pirae.
The 2012/13 championship was won for the second consecutive time by Dragon, followed by Tefana and Tamarii Faa’a, with Pirae finishing in ninth position. This year’s league got underway in October and with Vahirua, as well as a large number of the Tahiti beach soccer national team players included in the side they expect to be contenders for the title.
“I would like to finish slowly and not just give up football like that. I’m only 33 years old, I can still play,” he says.
“Practically all the Tiki Toa have come to AS Pirae. We have set ourselves the objective of raising the level of our championship.”
One of Tahiti’s most successful footballers will also be lending his expertise to footballers throughout the country after taking on the role of technical director with the Federation Tahitienne de Football (FTF).
“I’m in charge of all education, and I’m going to try and implement the policies that I learnt in France,” Vahirua says of his new role.
And he’s not wasting any time getting down to business, announcing he already has plenty of ideas to help contribute to the growth of the game in Tahiti.
“My job will consist of putting in place various championships – a beach soccer championship for example,” he says.
“Beach soccer cannot end with this World Cup, and we only get the team back together in two years for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Portugal. No. We also need to be developing other players and all the youths will want to take part.”
Vahirua says the three disciplines – football, beach soccer and futsal – all need stand-alone championships, but there needs to be a way to keep them united at the same time.
“I have just arrived, I am going to spend a year observing and learning, one year to go into the field, to get to the people and have them get to know me too,” he says.
“I would like there to be an exchange between the clubs and us at the federation, that we become one family and that we don’t wait 10-15 years for a ‘one-off chance’, but that we work hard so we can have these results regularly.”
To watch OFC TV’s interview with Marama Vahirua during his visit to New Zealand in September click here

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