Flying Arrows Ba from Fiji and Auckland FC from New Zealand will meet in the final of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Youth Festival following an intense and exciting round of action in Match Day Two in Noumea.
The final and third and fourth playoff between Imaki (VAN) and Capital Football Wellington (NZL) will be played as a curtain raiser to the sold out Christian Karembeu Jubilee Match against France ’98 at Stade Numa Daly.
The winner of the final will earn a spot at the Danon Nations Cup tournament in France this September.
Fifty-two matches were played on match day two of the tournament, where the field of twenty teams was split into two different brackets based on results from match day one.
Imaki (VAN) were the standout performers in the top-eight bracket with a 1-0 win over Auckland (NZL) and a 3-0 victory over Waikato (NZL), but suffered a heartbreaking 2-0 penalty shootout loss to Ba in the semi finals after the scores were locked at full time.
Auckland earned their spot in the final after defeating Capital Football Wellington 2-0 in an all-New Zealand semi final in front of some boisterous travelling support for both teams.
In the Secondary bracket for teams ranked 9-20 Florence Young School were the dominant party and five wins from six games was just reward for spirited tournament from the young Solomon Island side.
The finals of the OFC Youth Festival will kick off from 14H30 tomorrow where the four squads of lucky players will get a once in a lifetime opportunity to provide the opening act to world superstars such as Zinedine Zidane and Christian Karembeu.
Final Positions:
20th – Ecole Isidore (NCL)
19th – Ecole de Taremen (NCL)
18th – Ecole de Wala (NCL)
17th – Hienghene Sport (NCL)
16th – Nauti School (TUV)
15th -Port Moresby (PNG)
14th -Qanono Sport (NCL)
13th -Tarawa FC (KIR)
12th – AS Temanava (TAH)
11th -AS Magenta (NCL)
10th – Tenakonga (SOL)
9th – Florence Young (SOL)
8th -Waikato (NZL)
7th -Wabag (PNG)
6th -Erakor (VAN)
5th -Abuanga(Van)
Third and Fourth Playoff: Imaki (VAN) vs.Capital (NZL)
Final: Ba (FIJ) vs Auckland (NZL)
Final Round matches
| Field |
Time |
Round |
Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Result |
Pens |
| 4 |
15H20 |
19/20th place |
Ecole de Taremen (NCL) |
Ecole Isidore (NCL) |
2-0 |
|
| 3 |
15H20 |
17/18th place |
Ecole de Wala (NCL) |
Hienghene Sport (NCL) |
0-3 |
|
| 2 |
15H20 |
15/16th |
Nauti School (TUV) |
Port Moresby (PNG) |
1-1 |
1-3 |
| 1 |
15H20 |
13/14th |
Qanono Sport (NCL) |
Tarawa FC (KIR) |
0-1 |
|
| 4 |
15H40 |
11/12th |
AS Temanava (TAH) |
AS Magenta (NCL) |
0-1 |
|
| 3 |
15H40 |
9/10th |
Florence Young (SOL) |
Tenakonga (SOL) |
3-2 |
|
| 2 |
15H40 |
7/8th |
Waikato (NZL) |
Wabag (PNG) |
0-1 |
|
| 1 |
15h40 |
5/6th |
Abuanga(Van) |
Erakor (VAN) |
0-0 |
3-1 |
| 1 |
16H00 |
½ Final |
Imaki (VAN) |
Ba (FIJ) |
0-0 |
0-2 |
| 2 |
16H00 |
½ Final |
Auckland (NZL) |
Capital (NZL) |
2-0 |