With penalties looming in extra time it came down to two strikes in the final minute from Patrick Tepa to secure the win – a factor Swiss coach Angelo Schirinzi wasn’t happy about as the final whistle blew.
“I am absolutely unhappy at the number of goals we missed out on,” Schirinzi said after the match.
He said he became increasingly upset towards the end of the match when his players started attempting bicycle kicks instead of taking advantage of the better options available.
“Entertaining the fans is good but first things first and that’s to score goals. If we had finished all our chances, or even half, we could have won 15-2.
“That said, both teams played well, they battled right up until the end and for the public it was entertaining – and that’s beach soccer too.”
Captain Naea Bennett can relate to his coach’s frustrations as he fired shot after shot throughout the match without managing to find the net once.
“I don’t know what’s happening with us at the moment, you could say that we don’t want a victory to be easy,” Bennett said.
“But we need to fix this because when we start encountering the big sides in the quarter finals I think that we won’t get away with this. We need to sort it out as soon as possible.
“Certainly for me, to miss so many chances makes me doubt myself and my abilities a bit but I can’t stay in that frame of mind. The most important thing is that we are getting those chances as maybe in the next match we won’t have so many.”
While Tahiti have secured their spot in the next stage alongside fellow Group A team Spain, the final group encounter between the two tomorrow night is set to determine who finishes top of the group and who their quarter final opponent will be.
Tahiti will meet Spain on 23 September at Toa’ta Stadium with kick-off scheduled for 19h (local).

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