well thats maybe stretching the truth a little ...whilst some eyes might have been on Israel v Russia on Saturday the main game in the international football calender was the world cup qualifier here in Port Vila - Vanuatu v New Zealand. Games don't come much bigger than this round here.However it very nearly didn't go ahead, approval from FIFA on the Municipal "stadium" came only two days before the game after round the clock work putting right some minor flaws, such as putting some grass on the pitch, providing toilet facilities for players and fans and providing the ref and linesmen somewhere to change other than the home team dressing room. But in the end, and thanks to some money from the New Zealand High Commission to help with the repairs, the place looked great.
It wasn't a sell out but this was principally because many people decided against shelling out 500 vatu (2.50) in favour of a nearby roof or paw paw tree. By the time the players ran out the place was going wild - which we could largely assume to be in appreciation of the Vanuatu kit which was the flag made into a shirt. Reasonable enough but on eleven players it looked more like the tour de france than a football match.
The game
itself was a cracker. Against the run of play, a ball over the top and the Vanuatu No.9 Jean Nako Naprapol skipped round the keeper and thumped the ball into the back of the net. The place went wild. It got even wilder moments later when the Vanuatu keeper made a miraculous triple save. It was 1-0 at half time and expectation running high. But then almost straight from the kick off the All Whites equalised. The next forty five minutes were a see saw - Vanuatu hit the bar, New Zealand missed an open goal. And then ten minutes before the end the brilliant Vanuatu keeper was carried of injured, his replacement arriving to rapturous applause.
The game drifted into the 94th minute when a cross came in from the New Zealand left wing. Never before has their been such a feat of human propulsion as the Vanuatu keeper flew out to punch the ball away. Unfortunately, he missed by several metres and landed somewhere near the penalty spot just in time to see the ball loop off the head of Scunthorpe United utility man David Mulligan and into the net. So, 2-1 the final score. But it didn't seem to deter the crowd who, slightly strangely, cheered for all they were worth at the final whistle. I asked a colleague at work about this the next day and she said that the Vanuatu fans just enjoyed the excitement of the game. I am sure we can expect the same reaction from the England fans when Croatia score a last minute winner against England on Wednesday.
It wasn't a sell out but this was principally because many people decided against shelling out 500 vatu (2.50) in favour of a nearby roof or paw paw tree. By the time the players ran out the place was going wild - which we could largely assume to be in appreciation of the Vanuatu kit which was the flag made into a shirt. Reasonable enough but on eleven players it looked more like the tour de france than a football match.
The game
itself was a cracker. Against the run of play, a ball over the top and the Vanuatu No.9 Jean Nako Naprapol skipped round the keeper and thumped the ball into the back of the net. The place went wild. It got even wilder moments later when the Vanuatu keeper made a miraculous triple save. It was 1-0 at half time and expectation running high. But then almost straight from the kick off the All Whites equalised. The next forty five minutes were a see saw - Vanuatu hit the bar, New Zealand missed an open goal. And then ten minutes before the end the brilliant Vanuatu keeper was carried of injured, his replacement arriving to rapturous applause.The game drifted into the 94th minute when a cross came in from the New Zealand left wing. Never before has their been such a feat of human propulsion as the Vanuatu keeper flew out to punch the ball away. Unfortunately, he missed by several metres and landed somewhere near the penalty spot just in time to see the ball loop off the head of Scunthorpe United utility man David Mulligan and into the net. So, 2-1 the final score. But it didn't seem to deter the crowd who, slightly strangely, cheered for all they were worth at the final whistle. I asked a colleague at work about this the next day and she said that the Vanuatu fans just enjoyed the excitement of the game. I am sure we can expect the same reaction from the England fans when Croatia score a last minute winner against England on Wednesday.
1 comment:
Perhaps we could do with their manager!!
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