looks like if france wants to be represented in the confederations cup they will have to do so via the european championships. Tahiti have defeated new caledonia 1-0 and qualified for the 2013 CC in Brazil, historic result and and exciting to think about a tiny south pacific nation taking on world powers like brazil and spain in a major FIFA mens tournament!
Well congrats to Tahiti. It has made NZ's road to the World Cup much harder losing at least three top quality matches in their preparation/warm up games prior to the World Cup Games and play-offs (if they reach there). It is always hard to play in any pacific islands terrority. Some of the top sides would be surpised how difficult the playing conditions are. The humidity is very thick, the grounds are hard and dusty, the temperture is high, players are sweating like a dog, sweats dripping and burning over your eyes, your knees are jarring from the ground impact, the ground is clay like bumps rather than green grass. European teams will find it hard, even the ball bounce is high and drop downwards more with a high arc. It may sound like a series of excuses but it true that players need more time to adjust and have a good endurance base to last the whole tournament. For the NZ team, a lot of inexperience young players just got a real shock to their system as they didn't last the distance. There was many of the more experienced players not at the tournament, but NZ need to blood their young players for more internationals and have found some good young talents so it was not a total lost. However Pacific island teams have not travelled much to other countries but they may find Brazil climate not to far away from their environment. But the balls will not drop much, the heat will be stunning and the humidity is less so. If they have a few games leading up and a longer stay in Brzail, they should adjust better than NZ would have in the pacific islands. I sincerely believe that Tahiti will surprise the other teams in the Confederation Cup. My worry is that their coach may not be up for it. It's a whole different approach and you need a darn good strategy for each of the top teams. You can't use the same stuff at the OFC nation cup (by outscoring each other) or they get smashed.
Will it be that hot though? It's winter in Brazil remember, I was there last July and don't remember it being particularly hot. The water was pretty cold. If they are playing in Manaus in the Amazon, it is very humid there, but I don't think that's a venue for the confed cup...
Winter? Oh, didn't think of that. Humid but cold? The cold might be hard for the Tahitians, they might have tough then. Again, an experienced international coach is what they really need.
http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc/...a673-d895a1313411/language/en-US/Default.aspx has the schedule for Round 3.
How do you guys think New Zealand will perform in the group, considering their unsatisfactory performance in the OFC Nations Cup?
Here's the schedule: Matchday 1: Solomon Islands-Tahiti New Caledonia-New Zealand Matchday 2: New Zealand-Solomon Islands Tahiti-New Caledonia Matchdays 3 and 4 are in October and everybody plays the same opponent twice on those matchdays. Matchdays 5 and 6 are in March.
Solomon Islands with a 2-0 victory over Tahiti, goals by Fa'arodo and Teleda. New Caledonia vs New Zealand kicks off now. Live commentary on OFC site: http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc/...b930-dc7c7c0ee983/language/en-US/Default.aspx
Tahiti has been losing and is at the bottom of the table and will have to face New Zealand in the their next two matches. Despite having won against NZ in the Oceania Nation Cup final, they will find a stronger lineup, a fresher team and better attack option in this NZ side in October. Tahiti is not prepared and just need to pull themselves together. Again Tahiti needs a better coach.
wasn't it New Caledonia, not Tahiti that beat NZ in the semis, who then went on to lose to Tahiti in the final? Seriously though, if Tahiti are losing 4-0 at home to New Caledonia - I hate to think abou what'll happen should they play Brazil at the Maracana
http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/news/newsid=1709592/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_caption is titled "Solomons seek to repay local passion."
omg Tahiti are meant to be thrashed in the Confederations cup The groups are likely to be: GROUP A GROUP B Brazil Spain Italy Uruguay African champions Mexico Tahiti Japan
Out of curiosity, what are Tahiti's and New Caledonia's teams like? Over in CONCACAF, one of our teams gets to play your region's champ if one of our teams finishes 4th. I'm curious. Tahiti in the same group as Brazil and Italy. I don't envy that team or their coach.
Nope Tahiti will play Uruguay, Spain & Nigeria.... might have a chance though if Torres plays for Spain ;-)
New Zealand have beaten New Caledonia with Tommy Smith scored in 95'... 2-1... they qualified to playoffs and they are waiting for their CONCACAF opponent (8 games left there). Game was played in front of only 7k people at astonishing 30k seater in Dunedin.