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New Zealand and Tahiti hold leads in 2nd week of U-17 soccer tourney

The OFC Under-17 Soccer Championship is now in its second week of play and the top two teams in Group B (American Samoa) are Tahiti and Vanuatu.

 

Last Saturday Vanuatu had their highly anticipated match-up with the Solomon Islands. Both teams came into the match with confidence and talent to go along with it. Vanuatu’s superstar player so far in the championship, Sylvain Worworbu knew he had to put his team on top early in the match against this strong Solomon Islands team and that is exactly what he did. Six minutes into the match, Worworbu scored the first goal of the game.

 

Standout player for the Solomon’s, Larry Zama put one in just before the half at the 43 minute mark, keeping hope alive for his team. It was not until the 62nd minute mark that Vanuatu’s Ronaldo Wilkins scored on a penalty kick, which was enough, as Vanuatu held on for the 2-1 victory over the Solomon Islands.

 

Also on Saturday, Tahiti had their way with Tonga. As soon as Tahiti scored their first goal, they never looked back as they cruised to a 13-0 victory over Team Tonga. Tahiti goal leader Saturday was Michel Maihi who had five straight goals that were at the 38, 41, 48, 54 and 57 minute marks.

 

In Group A (Samoa) latest play, host nation Samoa was shut out by Papua New Guinea with a score of 5-0. Samoa has only one win and is in the 5th place spot with Cook Islands in the 6th and last place spot. The Fijians also defeated the Cook Islanders by the same score of 5-0 on Saturday.

 

Championship favorites and defending champion New Zealand had their hands full on Saturday against New Caledonia. New Zealand had to pull out all of the stops to take a 5-4 victory over New Caledonia. Despite New Caledonia’s Joris Kenon scoring on a penalty kick at the 78 minute mark separating the teams by only one point, it was not enough as New Zealand held on for the win.

 

Yesterday in Group B, Tahiti and the Solomon’s met for the first time. Right after the Solomon’s were downed by highly skilled Vanuatu team, they met a team who was just as skilled and talented when they met Tahiti.

 

 The Solomon’s let different scoring chances get by them in the first half, while Tahiti was able to capitalize on the let down and score two goals in the first half. Standout player for Tahiti Michel Maihi scored in the first half at the 35 minute mark and during a penalty kick just before the first half ended (45 minute). It did not help the Solomon Islands any when at the 59 minute mark, they scored on their own goal making the game 3-0 in favor of Tahiti.

 

Samoa News was not able to retrieve the score of the second game yesterday that was between Tonga and American Samoa.

 

The Football Federation of American Samoa invites the public to all of the games in this year’s OFC Under-17 Soccer Championship. Next games in Group B will be tomorrow at the Pago Pago Soccer Field.

 

The first game tomorrow will be the Solomon Islands versus American Samoa at 1:00 p.m., while Tahiti will be facing Vanuatu with a starting time of 3:30 p.m. Schedule and times of games are subject to change without notice.

 

Keep reading Samoa News for the latest updates in this year’s OFC Under-17 Soccer Championship taking place in American Samoa and Samoa.

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