Solomon Islands reach semi-final by defeating Tahiti 1-0 – 2011 OFC Futsal Championship
The Solomon Islands national Futsal team, Kuru Kuru edged out Tahiti 1-0 at the 2011 Oceania Football Confederation Futsal Championship.
The match was played at the Vodafone arena in Suva, Fiji.
The coach of the Kuru Kuru Dickson Kadau said, “The result may not have been good but it is another win and we will build on this. Tahiti are a very good defensive side, hey had some size and were very commited in their defence. I will be resting some of
the players against Tuvalu as we focus on the knockout stage. I think if we can maintain our standards we will face no problems in going through.”
The Kuru Kuru will join Vanuatu in the semi-finals going to be held on May 19, 2011. The Solomon Islands squad took down New Caledonia by 13-5 on the first day of action of the OFC Futsal Championship.
Solomon Islands faced a very strong opposition from Tahiti. The Tahitians on the first day of the championship crushed Tuvalu by 6-0. In the game against the Kuru Kuru, the situation went against the Tahitians and they ended on the losing side.
The goalkeeper of the Tahitian side Teva Durot gave his best to prevent the Kuru Kuru players from scoring but Micah Lea’alafa scored the sole goal of the match in the 19th minute of the first half.
In the second half, both the teams tried their level best to score some goals but none of them came out to be successful. Tahiti kept a strong defence but they were not able to score any goal.
The victory means that the Kuru Kuru have qualified for the semi-finals from Group B. The other team from the group that will progress to the semi-final will be decided on the third day of the championship
The Solomon Islands have won the OFC Futsal Championship three times previously and they will be looking for a fourth straight win.
This year it is important for the Kuru Kuru to clinch the title as the winner of the championship will be heading for the FIFA Futsal Championship going to be held in 2012 in Thailand.
Tags: