New Zealand are one win away from securing a place at next year’s FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup after beating a spirited Cook Islands side 7-0.
The win completed New Zealand’s Group A games at the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship in Tahiti, ensuring coach Martin Bullock’s side goes into the semi-finals to face the runners-up from Group B.
In the second game of the day, Fiji beat Vanuatu 3-2 to go through to the semi-finals and to keep alive their own World Cup dreams.
The top three sides at the OFC tournament will qualify for the showpiece 48-team World Cup to be held in Qatar next year.
New Zealand win after flying start to match
In their group game, the Cook Islands had barely touched the ball when New Zealand opened the scoring.
William Britton made a run down the right and whipped in a cross for Connor Smith to fire home the opener in the second minute.
It was a sign of things to come, as Smith had a double in the 10th minute. When the Cook Islands defence failed to clear, he guided the ball past a despairing Tunui Tunui from close range.
Main photo: An acrobatic effort from two-goal scorer Connor Smith. Photo credit: OFC Media / DJ Mills / Phototek.
It got worse for the Cooks in the 14th minute when Joseph Banza thundered in a left-footed volley from the left edge of the box for New Zealand’s third goal.
The Kiwis continued to pepper the Cook Islands goal and had their fourth in the 28th minute when Britton was put through on goal with a lovely pass from Van Fitzharris and he calmly finished to the left of Tunui in the Cook Islands goal.
Just before the break, Tunui pulled off a quite brilliant save to deny Fitzharris from point-blank range.
However, he injured his hand in the process and had to be replaced by Tom Tetini in the second half.
While New Zealand continued to dominate after the break, the Cook Islands were resilient on defence and prevented any further damage to the scoreline until the 64th minute.
Jack Perniskie, who came off the subs’ bench at half-time, fired a blistering left-footed shot into the roof of the net.
Britton bagged his second with the last kick of the game.
Cook Islands coach Ngati Manuel will be proud of his side’s effort, never giving up and containing the multitude of New Zealand’s attacking threats in the second spell.
For New Zealand, Joe McIntyre was a standout playing the full 90 and controlling the midfield. He was awarded the Player of the Match.
New Zealand, who scored 23 goals and conceded one in their three Group A matches, will play the Group B runners-up in the semi-finals.
Fiji’s World Cup dreams stay alive
Fiji have qualified for the semi-finals at the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship in Tahiti after a 3-2 win over Vanuatu in the final Group A fixture.
The baby Bula Boys finished runners-up in Group A behind New Zealand and will face the Group B winner for a place in the final.
The semi-finalists effectively get two bites at qualifying for the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup in Qatar next year, with the two finalists in Papeete joined by the winner of the third and fourth place playoff at the FIFA showpiece.
Vanuatu, needing to win the match by at least six goals to qualify for the semi-finals ahead of Cook Islands, made a cracking start.
They came close to scoring in the 7th minute when the ball ricocheted off Josaia Raikoso off the line for a corner.
From the corner, Sakaria Manipen’s loopy header found its way into the net.
The Cook Islands team had stayed behind to watch the match following their defeat by New Zealand, knowing a Vanuatu win by at least two goals would see them progress to the semi-finals at the expense of Fiji. They were vocal in their support of Vanuatu.
But Fiji gradually found their way into the game and Rishal Shankar looked dangerous whenever he touched the ball.
Their equaliser came due to a calamity at the back for Vanuatu. Krishna Samy Jnr swung a left-footed cross into the box.
Indecision between Vanuatu keeper Marco Kalaku and Manipen saw both miss the ball, collide and the ball bounced into the back of the net.
There was no element of luck about Fiji’s second goal just before the break. From a free kick on the edge of the box Shankar bent the ball over the wall into the right-hand corner of the net in what was a cracking strike.
Jefpta Taravaki had been Vanuatu’s best player in the first spell, and he levelled the scores seven minutes into the second half. He latched upon a loose pass in the Fiji defence and fired a strong right-footed shot past Isoa Latui in the Fiji goal.
Both sides went in search of the winner but there was little goalmouth action until 10 minutes from time when Veleni Rasorewa rose to meet a cross from Shankar and he headed the ball into the back of the net for the winner.
Shankar then missed a chance to make sure of the result minutes later.
Watch the highlights
WATCH: Highlights from New Zealand’s 7-0 win against Cook Islands >>>>
Acknowledgement
We are grateful for the help of OFC Media in providing information for this story.
Results
Games played on Sunday August 4, 2024
Group A
New Zealand 7 (Connor Smith 2′, 10′, Joseph Banza 14′, William Britton 29′, 90+5′, Jack Perniskie 64′)
Cook Islands 0
Vanuatu 2 (Sakaria Manipen 8′, Jefpta Taravaki 52′)
Fiji 3 (Krishna Samy Jr 34′, Rishal Shankar 44′, Veleni Rasorewa 80′)
Fixtures
Games to be played on August 5, 2024 (NZT)
Group B
Solomon Islands v New Caledonia
Stade Pater, Pirae, Tahiti, 1pm (NZT)
Samoa v Tahiti
Stade Pater, Pirae, Tahiti, 4pm (NZT)
This story was first published on August 4, 2024.
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