OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup has been drawn

The long-awaited OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup has now been confirmed with four teams set to take part in the sand in Tahiti in June.

Tahiti beach soccer — Tahiti will try to defend their spot as the best beach soccer team in the region (Photo credit: La Dépêche de Tahiti/http://www.ladepeche.pf)

The original tournament was postponed last year as only four teams expressed interest, but now that a fifth team has joined, the tournament is set to go ahead as scheduled.

The tournament will see New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, hosts Tahiti, Tonga and Vanuatu take part.

Tonga are the last team to join the bandwagon and according to OFC Futsal and Beach Soccer Development Officer Paul Toohey, they were inspired by the 2013 Beach Soccer World Cup held in Tahiti.

“The new team is Tonga, and we are very proud to finally bring them into our Beach Soccer family. TFA Technical Director Kilifi Uele was very much inspired by FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Tahiti 2013 and the Tongan team’s presence in this tournament is part of his vision, and the legacy of that World Cup,” Toohey told the OFC.

With five teams taking part, one team will have a rest day on every match day and with the tournament being such a condensed set up, that will surely be appreciated. The tournament goes from 17-22 June in Tahiti and there will be matches every single day.