Vanuatu secure historic place in final

The two hosts clashed in the second semifinal, and in the end it was Vanuatu who came out on top.

Fiji – Vanuatu 1-2

Both sides had the opportunity to make a historic final appearance, with neither side having never reached the final before.

And in the end it was Vanuatu who did, with a goal in each half. Fiji pulled one back immideatly after the break, but Jason Thomas became the hero by scoring from a corner.

““I’m very happy for everyone, the squad and everyone in the nation,” says Vanuatu coach Juliano Schmeling.

“The first half was 50-50. We both had some moments. The early goal in the second half put us in a difficult moment. Because I am new to the players I was interested to see how they would react. Then we got a second goal and we could manage until the final whistle.”

His counterpart, Rob Sherman, was naturally not a very happy man.

“We weren’t quite breaking them down as we had hoped. There were things we could have done differently perhaps, like getting the ball into the box a bit earlier, but in general it was a very competitive game. We did well to get back in straight after half time, and then it’s disappointing to concede from a set piece,” he says.

“We are disappointed, but I got to be fair. The lads gave a hundred percent and as long as you do that I can’t really complain.”

Fiji opened the match the brightest with Thomas Dunn as an instrumental man. Dunn, Setareki Hughes and Filipe Baravilala had early opportunities to open the scoring, but Vanuatu keeper James Iamar, who made his first start in the tournament, kept the Fijians out.

Then at the ten minute mark, Vanuatu were given a soft penalty when Dunn touched the foot of Godine Tenene, which referee CK Kawana-Waugh meant was enough contact to warrant a penalty.

Bong Kalo stepped up, but smashed the ball into the post.

But less than a minute later the crowd at Freshwater Stadium would be up on their feet again.

Jonathan Spokeyjack cut inside from the right side and smashed the ball into the bottom far corner to give Vanuatu the lead.

Fiji continued to control the game following the opening goal, but they struggled to make big chances.

Instead it was Vanuatu who had the biggest chances when they countered. Kensi Tangis, who came on for an injured Bong Kalo early in the game, had a wonderful pass to Tenene whose shot went wide of the goal, just minutes before half time.

“At the moment it’s nothing serious, so I hope he’ll be able to play in the final with one or two days off,” Schmeling says of Kalo’s injury.

Fiji got their best opportunity of the first half at the very end when Nabil Begg won a header at the back post, but headed it straight at Iamar.

After the break Fiji came out like a team possessed and in less than a minute the ball was in the back of the net. Captain Roy Krishna laid it back to Sitiveni Cavuilagi who striped it into the bottom corner, out of reach for Iamar.

That meant that we’d essentially have a second half that started with level teams.

The game then continued down the same road as it had in the first half, with Fiji controlling possession and Vanuatu being a handful on counter attacks.

Just before the hour mark Vanuatu got back in the lead when a corner found the head of centre back Jason Thomas, who flicked it into the net.

A minute later Vanuatu shouted for a penalty when their attacker was dragged down in the box on a rapid counter attack, but the Kiwi refree waved the Vanuatu player back to his feet.

And as the game wore on, Fiji looked for an equaliser but couldn’t find a way past the Vanuatu defence.

That means that Vanuatu will play New Zealand in the final, while Fiji play Tahiti in the bronze final.

That’s a match Rob Sherman doesn’t really care much for.

“On a personal level I don’t see the point of them. Do you really need to know who comes fourth or third? You both lost,” he says.