Solomon Islands National U17 team went down to the mighty New Zealand but pushed the New Zealanders to their limits.
The youngsters from the nation of Solomon Islands have won so much praise from everyone watching the game at the stadium. The boys kicked off the match quite determined but not as switched on as the New Zealand team as the Kiwis started perfectly with a goal just inside three minutes of game time. It was not an easy road then as Solomon Islands youngsters were down by a goal and by a worthy opponent all through the first half. The second half, however, was totally a different story. Everything sparked up for Solomon Islands boys as they rampaged the New Zealand back four numerous times. The equalizing goal came in the forty-seventh minute when Junior Kaoni of Solomon Islands followed on a miss cleared clearance by New Zealand defenders. The mighty New Zealand hold on to a second half which Solomon Islands looked sharp in it until the eighty-fourth minute before they claim victory through Charles Spragg after the ball rebounded off the crossbar into play.
The Solomon Islands youngster after a very strong performance had so much praise from the crowd watching including Tahiti’s head coach who was all but praise to the youngsters. “Solomon Islands played better football than New Zealand. I am the head coach of Tahiti but I am not afraid to say that Solomon Islands deserve to be in the world cup. The boys, they never gave up hope all through the whole match and your strikers, wow! You ripped the New Zealand defense apart on many occasion.” The Tahitian head coached said after the match. The Tahiti head coach, Patrice Flaccadori who hails from France also praised individual players like Elis, Don, Aengari and Captain Aeta for an exceptional football performance. Solomon Islands head coach said this in his interview, “I am so gutted we lost but at the same time, I am happy too for what the boys have done. It is easy to just cheer back at home but to be here and hearing so many positive things from the people we do not know when we lose is something big. I was surprised by the head coach of Tahiti coming up to me and thanking me for the boys’ excellent performance. It’s fulfilling but could’ve been much sweeter with a draw or a victory.” The youngsters were quite downhearted after yesterday’s loss but have sworn to fight till the end of the tournament for a spot in the semi-finals.
For Solomon Islands, the chances of advancing through is very slim but if Fiji lost to New Zealand by one goal to nil and the Solomon Islands youngsters managed to secure a victory against Samoa by four or more goals to nil then they can be assured of a spot in the semi-final.
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