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Usual suspects move through to OFC playoff
The only region without a direct qualifying spot into the world cup began with twelve nations and threw up the biggest upset in the OFC’s history in the second round. While Australia ultimately will face off against Uruguay in November, it’s the Solomon Islands that breathed new life into Pacific Islands football with their own outstanding efforts in qualifying.
Stage one saw two groups of five teams playoff, with Australia and New Zealand seeded into the next stage. The top two from each group progressed to the six team round-robin second stage.
Group 1 – The Solomon Islands never looked threatened in this group despite being held by Tahiti in their final match. They brushed past the likes of Tonga, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia before taking it easy and earning a point in their final match. Unfortunately for New Caledonia, that result saw them finish third, one point behind Tahiti. The revelation of the Pacific nations, New Caledonia hammered Tonga and the Cook Islands 8-0 each, drew with Tahiti 0-0 and conceded their only two goals against the Solomon Islands. Despite that Tahiti managed to squeeze a point out of the Solomon’s and that was the difference at the end of the day.
Standings: Solomon Islands 10 (points), Tahiti 8, New Caledonia 7, Tonga 3, Cook Islands 0
Group 2 – Vanuatu waited until the final match day of stage one to take the top spot when beating Fiji 3-0. It didn’t have a great effect on the final standings of the group however as Vanuatu and Fiji were heavy favourites to progress and did so without a great deal of trouble. The only possible slip up was Vanuatu’s 1-1 draw with Papua New Guinea in the first round. However they continued with a three game winning streak to see them safely home into the next stage.
Standings: Vanuatu 10, Fiji 9, Papua New Guinea 7, Samoa 3, American Samoa 0.
Stage two – With Australia and New Zealand joining the competition here it was widely expected they would progress to the playoff stage. With the first round match between the two major players, it would set one of the two sides on the back foot immediately. Marco Bresciano got Australia the win with a goal in the 40th minute to pick up the three points.
The third round threw up the biggest surprise as Vanuatu stunned New Zealand by winning 4-2. It was their only victory of the stage which makes the loss for New Zealand even harder to fathom. Never-the-less they overcame the All Whites in a massive shock. Tahiti bore the brunt of their frustration in the next match, losing 10-0 to the All Whites. However it was the final match that saw New Zealand crash out of the world cup as Australia could only muster a 2-2 draw with the Solomon Islands. The point, gained thanks to a 75th minute strike from Commins Menapi, allowed the Solomon Islands to sneak ahead of New Zealand. While the point mattered little to Australia, it mattered a great deal to New Zealand who claimed Australia “threw” the match to knock out New Zealand. A claim none could substantiate.
Stage three – Almost a year after progressing to the third stage, Australia hosted the Solomon Islands. Under new coach, the great Dutchman Guss Hiddink, Australia easily accounted for their island neighbours 7-0. Captaining his country for the first time, Mark Viduka picked up a brace while Jason Culina, Tim Cahill, Scott Chipperfield, Archie Thompson and Brett Emerton all found the back of the net. The return leg was less convincing by the Australians although they still came out 2-1 victors. Archie Thompson showed his high quality pedigree in putting Australia up 1-0 but Henry Fa’arodo equilised just after half-time after having his penalty saved initially. Nine minutes later brett Emerton restored Australia’s lead. A 9-1 aggregate win easily saw Australia through to the next leg against Uruguay.
18 October, 2005 |
