Solomon Island headed for the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012 – OFC Futsal Championship
The Kurukuru won the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Futsal Championship for the fourth time in a row yesterday. They have also qualified for the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand by defeating Tahiti by a match score of 6-4. The final was played at
Vodafone Arena Suva, Fiji.
Solomon Island was unexpectedly 4-1 down before the end of the first half. They did make a comeback and showed the real Kurukuru flair in the second half of the match and the Kurukuru seemed unstoppable as they won the match.
Coach Elliot Ragomo of the Kurukuru was overwhelmed by his team’s performance and said, “It feels amazing, this is our dream,” he said. “We have worked hard for this and we really deserve it. We will make both the Solomon Islands and Oceania proud. Last
time, we didn't do very well but I promise Oceania that we will fight for every single minute at this World Cup. People need to know that futsal is growing in the Pacific and the world should be aware of the Pacific countries.”
The Solomon Islands were the favourites in the tournament but the Tahitians did give a tough competition to the Kurukurus. Solomon Island took the lead in the first half of the match and scored the first goal but the Tahitians seemed to be unstoppable as
Areti Williams and Teva Durot scored goals for the Tahitian side. Mana Faarahia from Tahiti scored with just three minutes left before the first half of the match to make the score 4-1.
At one point Tahiti was moving ahead towards the FIFA Futsal World Cup but Solomon Island turned the tables as Ragomo and Jack Wetney took charge and changed the whole match. Ragomo was the savior and he scored the last two goals for his side in the last
minutes of the match.
Ragomo said, “We lost concentration in the first half and didn't expect they would do such quick counter-attacks, But we knew what we were going to do in the second half and used our speed and power to get back into the game”.
Earlier New Zealand’s Futsal Whites won the bronze medal against Vanuatu by a penalty shoot-out after the score was equalised on 1-1.
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