Courtesy: Fiji Live


Fiji to play for FUTSAL pride

June 12, 2008

Fiji, the host of the 2008 Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) FUTSAL Championship, has had its bid for a place in the World Cup in Brazil derailed.

The Intiaz Khan-coached side will instead play for pride tonight and tomorrow after suffering losses at the feet of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu at the Vodafone Arena in Suva in the last two days.

Fiji lost 6-11 to the Solomons on Tuesday before succumbing to a fitter Vanuatu side 2-5 the night after.

Khan said tonight’s match against Tahiti was to complete proceedings in the regional tournament.

“We have a very slim chance now. We have two losses but there are still Tahiti tonight and Tuvalu tomorrow. We are going to play for pride because only the top two teams will go up,” he added.

“We have a very good side with seasonal players like Kamal Hassan and Siga Ali of Navua. We lack the needed combination because there was not enough time to prepare. This should be a learning lesson for us where we should take this sport seriously.”

Fiji will face Tahiti at 4pm in the first match tonight. New Caledonia and Tuvalu follow suit at 6pm with the highlight of the night at 8pm where the top-of-the-table clash between Vanuatu and Solomon Islands is expected to be a thriller.

The winner will be the favourite to qualify for the FIFA FUTSAL World Cup in Brazil in September.
Vanuatu equalled the Solomons on points after beating Fiji 5-2 last night.

“I want the number one position and I will not stop at anything,” Vanuatu coach Marcellino Bathelemy said.

“The match will be the final of the tournament. We will go to Brazil,” he added.

In other results last night New Caledonia and Tahiti finished 2-all while New Zealand proved too good with their 13-1 drubbing of Tuvalu.

Fixtures: 4pm: Fiji vs Tahiti, 6pm: New Caledonia vs Tuvalu, 8pm: Vanuatu vs Solomon Is. Bye; New Zealand.






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