Vodafone Fijian Futsal 1- 5 New Caledonia

The Vodafone Fijian Futsal team fell short in their first game losing to New Caledonia 5-1 in the OFC Futsal Championship round one at the Vodafone Arena yesterday.

What happened:

Fiji got off to a good start retaining possession and keeping New Caledonia at bay. However, one touch is all New Caledonia needed as Ludovic Boit scored the first goal, 1-0. Incomplete passes by Fiji cost them time and again until Altaaf Sahib scored the equaliser, 1-1.

Fiji settling in well executing long kicks hoping to catch New Caledonia goalkeeper/captain Ronan Euzen off guard.

Boit came through again for New Caledonia scoring the second goal, giving them a 2-1 lead.

Halftime: Fiji 1-2 New Caledonia

Fiji were more composed in the second-half applying pressure. Fiji’s goalkeeper Ulaiasi Tamanisau was made to work extra hard blocking the constant raid by New Caledonia. However, Fiji’s misreading the game cost them as New Caledonia’s Ivann Pourouoro scored the third goal of the game, 3-1.

Constant pressure on the goalkeeper finally gave way as Mainon Kaouwi scored the fourth goal for New Caledonia, 4-1. Minutes later Jean Michel Denis Poadae scored the fifth goal to end the game in New Caledonia’s favour, 5-1.

Big play: Tamanisau worked hard to keep New Caledonia from scoring more goals.

Star turn: New Caledonia’s Ludovic Boit two early goals gave them the boost they needed.

Comments: Fiji’s coach Intiaz Khan, “We had a good start but as it went on we started to lose concentration. The boys really need to open up, they played around 40 per cent. We have tough games coming up and hope to do well.”

New Caledonia coach William Bret, “Fiji was a good team and very tough but I am happy with the win.

“However, this win isn’t the end of the tournament.  We have a few more games to go and only hope we can build on from this performance.”

Edited by Osea Bola.

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