Tahiti whitewash Tuvalu, 6-0: 2011 OFC Futsal Championship
The Tahiti outfit made a very impressive start on the first day of the 2011 Oceanic Football Confederation (OFC) Futsal Championship. They defeated Tuvalu in their opening match with a straight win of 6-0. The match was played at the Vodafone Arena, Fiji
on May 16.
The Tahitian’s are in full form and determined to take down Tuvalu. The Tuvalu outfit showed a remarkable improvement in their play, but still they need to put in more efforts. The Tahiti’s rivals also have a winning potential and their rivals in the Group
‘B’ should now be aware of their strength.
The stand-in coach, Ethel Taputu of the Tahitian squad, said, “We've been training for a while now so it was pleasing to see that hard work pay off. We told the boys that we wanted them to play with width and attack down the flanks and that's exactly what
they did. It was good to see them follow the game plan well.”
The first goal of the match was scored by Tahiti's Manu Faarahia in the fourth minute of the match and gave them an early lead. Tahiti's striker, Tahiarii Tutavae, scored a brace in the seventh and 12th minute. The Tahitians were three goals ahead
at the end of the first half of the match.
The Tuvalu eyed for a comeback in the game, but all their efforts went in vain, when Chocalat Maperi scored the fourth in the second half. Following him Michel Maihuri scored the fifth goal to take the lead by 5-0 against Tuvalu.
The match was sealed by the final sixth goal scored by Maperi.
The Tuvalu team lack team-play and without that it was impossible for them to win. It was a good experience for them. The main aim of the Tuvalu team was to win a match at the tournament. They have never won any OFC Futsal Championship match in over the
last few years.
The coach of the Tuvalu team Ethel Taputu said, “We have seen some of the mistakes we have made today and we now need to put those right for our next match.”
The Tuvalu will be looking forward to win a game in their group and eventually clinch the trophy.
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