New Caledonia knocks out Fiji by 8-6 at 2011 OFC Futsal Championship
The host nation Fiji ended their run in disappointment as they lost the last playoff match against New Caledonia in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Futsal Championship by 6-8. The match was played for the 5th and 6th seed of
the championship at the Vodafone Arena Suva, Fiji.
The coach of the Fijian squad, Intiaz Khan, said, “We have competed well in this tournament and have not been outclassed by any other team. We need to progress from here and see what we can do at the championship next year.”
New Caledonia and Fiji both will leave the tournament with their heads hung low on the last day of group matches. Fiji was the runner-up of the last two OFC Futsal Championships. This time they did not managed to win a semi-finals seed.
Fijian player Ratu Dugucagi took the lead and scored the first goal in the third minute of the match. Following him Eran Underwood was the man who scored two goals in the first half from the Fijian end. Kamal Hassan was the next player to score the fourth
goal for Fiji. New Caledonia team responded quickly and Romain Guitton hit two goals for his side, following him Ismael Tchovanili scored the third goal for the New Caledonia side. Fiji was leading at the end of the first half by 4-3.
In the second half both the teams seemed determined to score goals and win the match. The score-line swayed back and forth and the teams remained level on the score board at 6-6.
Tchovanili and Dugucagi from the Fijian outfit completed their hat-trick on the scoreboard. Guitton added more gaols to the New Caledonia side. The New Caledonia ended the match with a score of 8-6 against Fiji.
The coach of the New Caledonia, Eric Michalak, seemed satisfied with the team’s performance and said, “I was quite surprised that Fiji were in such good condition because they had to play very hard yesterday. I thought they would be tired today but they
didn’t seem to be. We played quite well but we gave away too many goals to them. We made a lot of individual errors and paid for them.”
Both the teams have to work really hard if they want to make a place amongst the top teams next year.
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