The catalyst to that victory at Lawson Tama Stadium – the same venue at which the Toa Aito crushed the hosts’ OFC Nations Cup dreams in June – was inspirational captain Henry Fa’arodo, who scored the opener and provided the final pass for Himson Teleda to put the game out of ten-man Tahiti’s reach.
It is his teammates that Fa’arodo is quick to praise, however, when asked how happy he was with his contribution to that first-up victory, highlighting the strong spirit the Solomon Islands side currently possesses.
“I was happy with the performance individually but at the same time with the team performance as well, I think everybody from the goalkeeper to up front did exceptionally well,” he says.
“Given the pressure we’re under back at home, I think the commitment and the determination that the boys have is awesome, we have nine new players who were not at the Nations Cup and I think they’ve gelled very well given the short period we’ve had together.”
It’s that sort of togetherness that the Nations Cup fourth-place getters will require on Tuesday night as they look to trouble New Zealand at Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium, something they managed on home soil at the Nations Cup in snatching a 1-1 group stage draw and narrowly losing 4-3 in the play-off for third.
Those results, coupled with an early exit, left the All Whites wounded and with their reputation greatly diminished but Fa’arodo knows his charges will have to step up again if they are to take anything from tomorrow night’s match.
“We have concerns about New Zealand, they didn’t have a good result at the Nations Cup so they will look to come back hard and they showed that against New Caledonia,” he says.
“I think they are the team to beat at the moment and we’ll keep that in mind. But we also need to prioritise what we have to do ourselves.”
Although most are predicting an All Whites win, Fa’arodo says there is a lot of belief and talent within his side’s ranks and that, contrary to popular opinion, the Solomon squad is actually looking forward to leaving the heat and humidity of Honiara behind and embracing the far cooler climes of Auckland.
“It will actually be better playing here than in the Solomons. I wouldn’t use the weather as an excuse because we’re both going to face the same conditions,” he says.
“I think it’s going to be a really good game. We believe in ourselves and anything can happen in football.”

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