Courtesy: Fijilive


Hassan double kick-starts Fiji campaign

June 08, 2008

Hosts Fiji overcame a tough New Caledonia challenge to come out victorious 4-2 in their opening game of the Oceania FUTSAL World Cup qualifiers at the Vodafone Arena.

The win for the hosts came in the dying minutes when Rewa striker Kamal Hassan proved to be the hero for the Fijians when he scored a double with just two minutes remaining on the clock as the scores were locked 2-2.

It was the visitors who drew first blood in the evenly contested encounter and were leading 1-0 through a Rosso Alexandre goal until Lautoka boy Alvin Avinesh scored a classic to bring them to level terms minutes later.

Fiji, with the vocal crowd rallying behind them, were able to piece a number of enterprising play to see Navua rep Siga Ali slot in a goal to give them a slender 2-1 lead at the breather.

New Caledonia came back and equalised through Hnailolo Albert with just three minutes remaining on the clock.

And while it seemed like its was 'curtains' for the Fijians with the end result of a draw looming, Hassan sparked a comeback and scored two goals in the last two minutes to give Fiji a victory in its opening match.

Fiji Coach Intiaz Khan was satisfied with the win and said his team played well despite featuring together as a team for the first time.

"A win is a win and I am happy that we managed to beat New Caledonia which was very strong,"he said.

"My players played together as a team for the first time and therefore they were abit nervous in the early stages of the match which allowed New Caledonia to score the opening goal.

"But as the match progressed we gained confidence and played better and in the remaining matches I am expecting a much improved prefromance from the players" he added.

Fiji is on a bye on Day 2 and comes up against Solomon Islands on Tuesday.

Strarting teams:

Fiji: Azmat Begg, Siga Ali, Alvin Avinesh, Mira Sahib (C) , Kamal Hassan.

New Caledonia: Euzen Ronan (C), Rosso Alexandre, Hnailolo Albert, Iaruel Jerry, Muracciolli Edouard.







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com