The winner of the tournament will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is set to take place in Turkey from June 21 to July 13.
Here’s a look at the action that’s in store across the two matches on the second day of the OFC U-20 Championship.
Vanuatu vs. New Zealand – 2pm Saturday 23 March
Despite flying out of the blocks to take a 2-0 lead in their first match against Fiji, Vanuatu struggled to maintain their momentum for 90 minutes, eventually falling 3-2 to the tournament hosts. This puts the side on the back foot as they come up against favourites and defending champions New Zealand tomorrow. Coach Moise Poida identified several areas of weakness in the first match that he will be working to eliminate in time for their meeting with the Junior All Whites. He will also be looking to 2011 campaign Golden Boot winner and captain Jean Kaltack to continue his prolific goal scoring and boost morale within the squad. Vanuatu will need to lift their game up another notch if they want to cause an upset against New Zealand, who eased past underdogs Papua New Guinea 5-0 in their opening match. The Junior All Whites are stacked with experienced players such as Wellington Phoenix duo Louis Fenton, who struck a brace in the first 15 minutes of yesterday’s match, and Tyler Boyd who have seen plenty of A-League action this season. Also impressing up front and proving this side is far from lacking in attacking talent were Hamish Watson and substitute Dale Higham who both made it onto the score sheet. Coach Chris Milicich will want to build on that success in front of goal while continuing to remain tight in defence to eliminate the threat posed by Vanuatu’s swift attackers.
In their own words
“We are a smaller side but we need to get better at defending aerial balls. New Zealand are similar to Fiji in that they will take us on in the air. We don’t know a lot about New Zealand but we know they will be the team to beat. I think we are good enough to get a result against them but we will need to fix our mistakes from the first game to have any chance.” – Vanuatu coach Moise Poida
“We’ll look to work a bit on our midfield configuration, it wasn’t quite right against Papua New Guinea, too many balls were driven through that area and allowed their most dangerous player to get on the ball and cause some problems. We had a look at Vanuatu the other day and they look like a tidy side, they’ve obviously done a tremendous amount of work. They try to move the ball and are pretty competitive. They were 2-0 up and then got run down which was quite a surprise because I thought they were well worth the result so it will be interesting.” – New Zealand coach Chris Milicich
Fiji vs. New Caledonia – 4.30pm Saturday 23 March
Fresh from making a huge comeback against Vanuatu in their opening match, Fiji will be looking to continue their winning run against the still untested New Caledonia side. While buoyed by the 3-2 win, coach Ravinesh Kumar will not want his team to lose focus of their goal. With three matches remaining, the hosts will need to build on their performance if they are to keep up with favourites New Zealand. Whether Kumar will name Rusiate Matarerega in the starting line-up remains to be seen, but there is little doubt Fiji’s Junior Footballer of the Year made a massive impact off the bench after coming on and scoring the match winner. After sitting out the first round with a bye, the challenge for New Caledonia will be bringing down the jubilant Fijian side in front of their home crowd. The two sides didn’t meet at the 2011 edition of the championship, but there is no doubt coach Matthieu Delcroix will be hoping a strong first-up performance will help erase some of the pain of the nation’s three straight defeats in Auckland two years ago. The majority of the squad plays domestically, with several in line to appear in the upcoming OFC Champions League with Mont-Dore, and attacker Stephane Tein-Padom’s experience in the U-19 academy of French club Berrichone de Chateauroux will be a welcome boost to the side.
In their own words
“We are satisfied with our win but it’s not the end of the tournament. We have three more games to play and we will take it game by game. We will try to rectify the mistakes we made in the first game and will have to improve against New Caledonia.” – Fiji coach Ravinesh Kumar
“We are approaching this competition with great modesty, but what is certain is that the players will give everything in each encounter. We will approach each match one after the other because, with four games, anything can go very quickly in one direction or the other. Above all it will be our motivation and concentration that will determine our chances.” – New Caledonia coach Matthieu Delcroix
OFC U-20 Championship – Match Day 2 Preview
Vanuatu vs. New Zealand
2pm local time, Saturday 23 March
Churchill Park
Lautoka, Fiji
Referee: Bertrand BILLON [NCL]
Assistant Referee 1: Ravinesh KUMAR [FIJ]
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen SENGA [SOL]
4th Official: Salesh CHAND [FIJ]
Vanuatu: 1. Seloni IARUEL [GK], 2. Raoul COULON, 3. Chanel OBED, 4. Jason BOTLENG, 5. Kevin SHEM, 6. Jais MALSARANI, 7. Barry MANSALE, 8. Jackson TASSO, 9. Jean KALTACK, 10. Bill NICHOLLS, 11. Ratu HUNGAI, 12. Santino MERMER, 13. Dalong DAMALIP, 14. Michel COULON, 15. Eric JOHNSAM, 16. Zica MANUHI, 17. Nicol TARI, 18. Philippe TABILIP, 19. Edwin BAI, 20. Kalo FIRIAM [GK]
Coach: Moise POIDA [VAN]
New Zealand: 1. Scott BASALAJ [GK], 2. Storm ROUX, 3. Bill TUILOMA, 4. Simon ARMS, 5. Luke ADAMS, 6. Tom BISS, 7. Cameron HOWIESON , 8. Jesse EDGE, 9. Hamish WATSON, 10. Tyler BOYD, 11. Louis FENTON, 12. Rory TURNER, 13. Liam HIGGINS, 14. Kade SCHRIJVERS, 15. Justin GULLEY, 16. Van ELIA, 17. Ryan THOMAS, 18. Joel STEVENS, 19. Dale HIGHAM, 20. Max CROCOMBE [GK]
Coach: Chris MILICICH [NZL]
Fiji vs. New Caledonia
4.30pm local time, Saturday 23 March
Churchill Park
Lautoka, Fiji
Referee: Kader ZITOUNI [TAH]
Assistant Referee 1: Mark RULE [NZL]
Assistant Referee 2: Jackson NAMO [SOL]
4th Official: Gerald OIAKA [SOL]
Fiji: 1. Tevita KOROI [GK], 2. Antonio TUIVUNA, 3. Praneel NAIDU, 4. Jale DRELOA, 5. Rusiate MATAREREGA, 6. Kolinio SIVOKI, 7. Vineel NAIDU, 8. Setareki HUGHES, 9. Manasa NAWAKULA, 10. Junior RAO, 11. Jope MASIBALAVU, 12. Ratu NAKALEVU, 13. Jone SALAUNEUNE, 14. Josaia MASIWINI, 15. Napolioni QASEVAKATINI, 16. Sakaraia NAISUA, 17. Ravinesh DASS, 18. Tomasi TUICAKAU, 19. Kasim KHAN, 20. Senirusi BOKINI [GK]
Coach: Ravinesh KUMAR [FIJ]
New Caledonia: 1. Anthony AJAPUHNYA, 2. Ernest MAPERI, 3. Matthieu PATRITTI, 4. Jean-Brice WADRIAKO, 5. Aquilas WAHNAPO, 6.Fonzy RANCHAIN, 7. Ben MALAKAI, 8. Michel WASSIN, 9. Bernard WAELUA, 10. Jordy XALITE, 11. Stephane TEIN-PADOM, 12. Albert BOUANAOUE, 13. Jean-Pierre BOB, 14. Cedric DECOIRE, 15. Geordy GONY, 16. Renaldo NONMEU, 17. Bernard STREIFF, 18. David WADRA, 19. Louis WAIA, 20. Emmanuel HNASSON [GK]
Coach: Matthieu DELCROIX [NCL]