A face-off between Oceania’s two Francophone nations is sure to fill the stands at Stade Mahina on Tuesday
Hosts Tahiti take on current table leaders New Caledonia on the second day of Group A action in the OFC U-17 Championship in Papeete, Tahiti on 14 February.
Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu will open the day of action as they both fight for their first points in the competition at 4pm (local time).
Although their 3-2 loss to New Caledonia was heart-breaking for Papua New Guinea coach Harrison Kamake, he remains focussed on staying constructive and tweaking the side’s weaknesses.
“We are playing Vanuatu and they definitely are a good team,” he said.
“We’ll just have to revisit some of the basics and work from there.”
Also seeking redemption after their 1-0 loss to Tahiti, Vanuatu coach Rocky Neveserveth is working to improve the combinations in his side before their second chance at points on Tuesday.
“You could see that we lacked a certain level of preparation but we will do everything we can to stay here in the competition as long as possible,” he said.
“They haven’t lost their focus, they still have belief for the next game.”
Neveserveth is expecting a more calm and structured game from his side without the intimidation of Tahiti’s home crowd in their second match but still believes his side’s weaknesses will be tested by Papua New Guinea.
“Papua New Guinea will be a tough opponent. They have a great game style and we will do our best to work hard on our finishing and our defence.”
New Caledonia will have their turn at facing Tahiti’s passionate crowd when they meet the hosts in their highly-anticipated fixture at 7pm.
Although the match will be high-pressure for the young New Caledonia side, coach Michel Clarque is looking forward to facing their fellow Francophones and hopes to use the match as a chance to learn and develop with his team.
“The next match is sort of between friends and brothers,” he said.
“There’s always been a little something between Tahiti and New Caledonia of course, and there’s somewhat of a difference between our preparations for this tournament compared with the other team.
“It’s the type of tournament where we always want to try and do a lot of teaching, and then we can continue to benefit from these learnings in the future as well.”
Despite their 1-0 win against Vanuatu, Tahiti coach Patrice Flaccadori hopes to see a better 90-minute performance from his side in their second match.
“In the second half, the whole time we were under pressure. When you win the ball you need to hold on to it, to keep possession, and we weren’t so good at that,” he said.”
Flaccadori believes his side will need to up the intensity against New Caledonia if they plan to overtake the Melanesians on the table.
“They won 3-2 so they’re ahead of us in the standings, so we’re going to do what we need to in order to win this match. It’s a very important game for us.”