Fiji takes down Kiribati by 22-3: 2011 OFC Futsal Championship
Fiji defeated Kiribati by 22-3 in the 2011 Oceania Football Confederation Futsal Championship.
The hopes of the Fijian outfit to reach the semi-finals are still hanging by a thread. They will be hoping that Vanuatu takes down New Zealand with at least a four-goal margin.
The coach of the Fijian squad Imtiaz Khan told the reporters, “It's too late for us to change anything now. If New Zealand loses by a big margin then we have a chance but otherwise we are out of the tournament. Either way, we have another match tomorrow
so we need to regroup and get ready for that.”
The Fijian squad knew they have to win with a major score difference against Kiribati if they want to proceed to the semi-finals. The Fijian team started off well in the first half of the match and played the best match of the tournament.
Sandeep Nair was the player from the Fijian squad who scored a maximum of six goals in the first half of the match. Following Sandeep, skipper Kamal Hassan scored four goals and Hussein Sahib added another three goals on the scoresheet.
Shivam Nathan, Uraia Loki, Ratu Dugucagi and Aisea Codro scored the other goals for Fiji. The Kiribati squad managed to score only two goals and it was Bita Keakea who scored all the goals for the side.
The Fijian outfit was 17-2 until the end of the first half. In the second half, Fiji managed to score five further goals, whereas Kiribati’s Bita Keakea scored the only goal for his side. Although he completed his hat trick in the end, yet it was not enough
to prevent a loss for his side.
The coach of Kiribati team Pine Iosefa, after the defeat of his team said, “We tried our best but it is hard for us to beat a team like Fiji. They have very good players and it is difficult for our boys to match them. But we managed to score
three goals which is an achievement in itself.”
Fiji team is looking forward for the last match of the day as it will decide that whether they will feature in the semi-finals or not.
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