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 third day of the OFC U-20 Championship.
New Zealand vs. New Caledonia – 2pm Monday 25 March
Defending champions New Zealand were made to work hard for yesterday’s 1-0 win over a Vanuatu side desperate for three points of their own. The Junior All Whites went ahead in the 23rd minute through Van Elia and had to dig deep to keep out Vanuatu who threw everything they had at the Kiwis in the second period. Coach Chris Milicich made six changes to the side which defeated Papua New Guinea 5-0 on day one, giving Elia, England-based goalkeeper Max Crocombe, Jesse Edge and Kade Schrijvers their first taste of OFC U-20 action and handing Louis Fenton, a double goal scorer on the opening day, a rest. With the difficult task of playing four matches in seven days, Milicich will no doubt continue to rotate his players for Monday’s match. New Caledonia came into day two fresh from a bye and, while they lost to hosts Fiji 3-2, they proved there is plenty of talent and fight within the squad. Captain Jean-Brice Wadriako had a stand-out match, leading his team’s late comeback and punishing Fiji with an 87th-minute goal. He also made a number of crucial tackles at the other end of the pitch to deny Fiji a bigger win. New Caledonia face the prospect of taking on a confident New Zealand side who has two wins from two under their belt, but coach Matthieu Delcroix has faith his side can rise to the challenge. They will however be without forward Bernard Streiff who sustained a dislocated shoulder against Fiji.
In their own words
“I think the team that wins this tournament is going to need at least three wins and a draw, they’re probably going to need four wins. So it doesn’t matter how the wins come along, you just have to keep taking them.” – New Zealand coach Chris Milicich
“The boys played well together as a team but we were made to pay for each of our mistakes against Fiji. We will need to maintain our concentration against New Zealand and prevent them from scoring and if we play united as a team we have a good chance.” – New Caledonia coach Matthieu Delcroix
Vanuatu vs. Papua New Guinea – 4.30pm Monday 25 March
Fresh from their 1-0 defeat at the hands of reigning champions New Zealand, Vanuatu will clearly be on the hunt for a win against Papua New Guinea to lift them up the table. Moise Poida’s side put up a strong fight yesterday but their usually lethal strike force of Jean Kaltack, Bill Nicholls and Dalong Damalip failed to fire – a factor Poida will be hoping to rectify tomorrow. Papua New Guinea on the other hand will also be hoping to remedy their 5-0 defeat at the hands of the New Zealanders on day one. While Wesley Waiwai’s side shone at times, they were no match for the cohesive and organised Junior All Whites. However, if goalkeeper Charles Lepani can repeat his first-up performance then it will be very difficult for Vanuatu to get the upper hand over Papua New Guinea, who will also be relying on captain and talisman Alwin Komolong to add a finishing touch at the other end and help his side earn their first victory of the tournament.
In their own words
“I watched Papua New Guinea on the first day and I think they play a similar style of football to us, based on keeping the ball on the ground and finding space in the final third to score. I believe we can beat them, they went down to New Zealand 5-0 while we only lost 1-0 and we dominated the match at times, especially in the second half.” – Vanuatu coach Moise Poida
“We didn’t get the result we wanted in the first match against New Zealand and we have had to sit down and work out where we went wrong. We will try to fix those areas because we know we need to get better in the next game.” – Papua New Guinea coach Wesley Waiwai
OFC U-20 Championship – Match Day 3 Preview
New Zealand vs. New Caledonia
2pm local time, Monday 25 March
Churchill Park
Lautoka, Fiji
Referee: Salesh CHAND [FIJ]
Assistant Referee 1: Jackson NAMO [SOL]
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen SENGA [SOL]
4th Official: Kader ZITOUNI [TAH]
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]
New Caledonia: 1. Anthony AJAPUHNYA [GK], 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]
Vanuatu vs. Papua New Guinea
4.30pm local time, Monday 25 March
Churchill Park
Lautoka, Fiji
Referee: Norbert HAUATA [TAH]
Assistant Referee 1: Tevita MAKASINI [TGA]
Assistant Referee 2: Mark RULE [NZL]
4th Official: Bertrand BILLON [NCL]
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]
Papua New Guinea: 1. Charles LEPANI [GK], 2. John RAY, 3. Otto KUSUNAN, 4. Ayrton YAGAS, 5. Daniel TAYLOR, 6. Emmanuel AIREM, 7. Raynard YOHANG, 8. Darren STEVEN, 9. Patrick AISA, 10. Charkstan AOPI, 11. Sana YATU, 12. Philadelphia VELA, 13. Tommy SEMMY, 14. Alwin KOMOLONG, 15. Philip STEVEN, 16. Papalau AWELE, 17. Jacob SABUA, 18. Francis PATRICK, 19. Pettyshen ELIJAH, 20. Ishmael POLE [GK]
Coach: Wesley WAIWAI [PNG]