The hosts recovered from a 3-1 deficit to delight the fans with a double from Teiva Izal, a goal each to Tainui Lehartel, Naea Bennett and Teva Zaveroni while also benefitting from an own goal.
Fiji goal scorers included Ratu Josefata Dugucagi (2), Sandeep Nair, Rajnesh Raju and Maciu Dunadamu but it wasn’t enough for the Fijians who exit the tournament after also losing to the Solomon Islands 9-4 yesterday.
Fiji beach soccer side coach Intiaz Khan says they were unlucky not to stay in the hunt for a berth in the final on Sunday.
“I think at the end of the day we should have won the game but we were just unlucky. Even when we were losing 5-3, I was confident we would win and we came so close. Losing in this way is sad. When they were down, the fans really helped to lift them. We made some silly mistakes and gave away simple goals at the end under pressure. It hurts a lot. But you can see from the crowd they loved the way Fiji played today.
“And after a bit of time I think we can reflect and still take heart from the performances we put in this week. The players have learned a lot. We’ve seen what the standard is and we are not far away. I think it is all about experience. With more experience comes composure and I think that is what we were lacking, but next time we will be better prepared,” Khan said.
The 2011 beach soccer playoffs were only Fiji’s second ever international outing in the shortened code. Following the 2009, 2011 playoffs Fiji is yet to win an international beach soccer match.
The starting line-ups for Tahiti and Fiji were as follows:
Tahiti: 1. Jonathon TOROHIA (GK), 4. Heimanu AMAU, 6. Patrick TEPA, 7. Raimana LI FUNG KUEE, 9. Naea BENNETT (c)
Fiji: 1. Benaminio MATEINAQARA (GK) (c), 7. Veresa TOMA, 8. Epeli SAUKURU, 9. Sandeep NAIR, 10. Archie WATKINS
The referees for the match are as follows:
Referee: Hugo HEBALA (SOL)
Second Referee: Hamilton SIAU (SOL)
Third Referee: Kamalie FITIALEATA (SOL)
Timekeeper: Alain ALICK (VAN)
Fiji out of beach soccer playoffs
