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Football at the 2007 South Pacific Games – Men's tournament

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The 2007 Pacific Games men's football tournament was held at the Toleafoa J.S. Blatter Complex in Apia, Samoa in from 25 August to 7 September 2007.[1]

Quick facts Tournament details, Host country ...

The men's tournament formed the first stage of the Oceania Football Confederation's (OFC) qualification tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the qualification tournament for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup.[2]

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Tournament

The final accredited athlete list at the SPG website Archived 2007-11-07 at the Wayback Machine shows 10 entered sides. Papua New Guinea, although listed by FIFA as having applied for the 2010 World Cup, did not enter. Tuvalu did enter (although they were not eligible for the World Cup). The group stage draw, undertaken by Tim Cahill, was held on 12 June 2007 in Auckland, New Zealand.

New Caledonia's captain, Pierre Wajoka scored a ninth-minute penalty against Tahiti in the opening fixture of the games, earning him the distinction of being the scorer of the first goal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification process.

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Group seedings

More information Group A, Group B ...

Notes:

  • Tuvalu was unranked by FIFA as it was not a member (and not an entrant to the World Cup).
  • Although the draw took place in June, FIFA rankings are shown as of February 2007, which accords with press reports of the rankings used in the draw seeding.
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Squads

Group stage

Group A

More information Team, Pld ...
Source: [3]
Notes:
  1. Tuvalu were not members of FIFA and so were not eligible to qualify for the World Cup.

More information Tahiti, 0–1 ...
More information Fiji, 16–0 ...
Attendance: 200
Referee: Fiti Aimaasu (Samoa)

More information Tuvalu, 0–1 ...
Attendance: 250
Referee: Nelson Sogo (Solomon Islands)
More information Fiji, 4–0 ...

More information Tuvalu, 1–1 ...
Attendance: 100
Referee: Chris Lengata (Solomon Islands)
More information New Caledonia, 3–0 ...
Attendance: 200
Referee: Neil Fox (New Zealand)

More information Cook Islands, 4–1 ...
More information Tahiti, 0–4 ...
Attendance: 200
Referee: Neil Fox (New Zealand)

More information New Caledonia, 1–1 ...
More information Cook Islands, 0–1 ...
Attendance: 100
Referee: Fiti Aimaasu (Samoa)

Group B

More information Team, Pld ...
Source: [3]

More information Solomon Islands, 12–1 ...
Attendance: 300
Referee: Salaiau Sosongan (Papua New Guinea)
More information Vanuatu, 4–0 ...
Attendance: 300
Referee: Averii Jacques (Tahiti)

More information Solomon Islands, 4–0 ...
Attendance: 350
Referee: Fiti Aimaasu (Samoa)
More information American Samoa, 0–7 ...
Attendance: 2,800
Referee: Job Minan (Papua New Guinea)

More information American Samoa, 0–15 ...
More information Samoa, 2–1 ...
Attendance: 1,850
Referee: Salaiau Sosongan (Papua New Guinea)

More information Tonga, 4–0 ...
Attendance: 200
Referee: Job Minan (Papua New Guinea)
More information Vanuatu, 0–2 ...
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Averii Jacques (Tahiti)

More information Samoa, 0–3 ...
More information Tonga, 1–4 ...
Attendance: 50
Referee: Job Minan (Papua New Guinea)
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Knockout stage

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Solomon Islands 2
 
 
 
 New Caledonia 3
 
 New Caledonia 1
 
 
 
 Fiji 0
 
 Fiji 3
 
 
 Vanuatu 0
 
Third place
 
 
 
 
 
 Solomon Islands 0
 
 
 Vanuatu 2

Semi-finals

More information Solomon Islands, 2–3 ...
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Job Minan (Papua New Guinea)
More information Fiji, 3–0 ...

Third place match

More information Solomon Islands, 0–2 ...
Attendance: 200
Referee: Averii Jacques (Tahiti)

Final

More information New Caledonia, 1–0 ...
More information 2007 South Pacific Games winners ...

(Note): The three medallists, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu, advanced to the 2008 OFC Nations Cup (together with automatic qualifier New Zealand).

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Advancement questions

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Tuvalu

There remained some uncertainty as to what procedure would occur to Tuvalu advance - as they were not members of FIFA (and therefore did not enter the 2010 FIFA World Cup). While no explicit ruling was communicated on this matter, comments in the press release for the OFC Second Stage draw referred to "nine eligible nations", suggesting that Tuvalu would not have advanced to the OFC Nations Cup regardless of their performance in the South Pacific Games. Had Tuvalu finished in a medal position, the fourth place team would presumably have qualified for the next round of qualifying with the other two medal winners and New Zealand. Tuvalu's early elimination from the competition put an end to any complication over the qualifying process for the next round.

This was the first time ever that a non-FIFA nation has competed in the World Cup.[4] The closest situation in the past was the case of New Caledonia during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. However, they were at the time in the process of accession to the organisation, and were eliminated from contention for the finals just days before their final admission to the FIFA family.

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea, having initially entered the 2010 World Cup and indicated their intention to enter the South Pacific Games, were involved in a dispute with their sporting authorities and failed to meet the official accreditation deadline for the South Pacific Games. This meant they were effectively disqualified from the World Cup.

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Goalscorers

There were 110 goals scored in 24 matches, for an average of 4.58 goals per match.

10 goals

9 goals

7 goals

5 goals

  • New Caledonia Iamel Kabeu

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

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See also

References

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