Football at the 2007 South Pacific Games – Men's tournament
International football competition
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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]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Samoa |
| Dates | 25 August – 7 September |
| Teams | 10 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  New Caledonia (5th title) |
| Runners-up |  Fiji |
| Third place |  Vanuatu |
| Fourth place |  Solomon Islands |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 24 |
| Goals scored | 110 (4.58 per match) |
| Attendance | 13,000 (542 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Osea Vakatalesau (10 goals) |
← 2003 2011 → | |
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]
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.
Group seedings
| 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.
Squads
Group stage
Group A
Notes:
- Tuvalu were not members of FIFA and so were not eligible to qualify for the World Cup.
Tahiti  | 0–1 | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Wajoka  9' (pen.) |
Tuvalu  | 0–1 | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Kabeu 52' |
| Fiji | 4–0 |  Cook Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Vakatalesau 19' Waqa 40'Bukalidi 63'Kainihewe 82' |
Report |
| New Caledonia | 3–0 | Cook Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Kabeu 35', 51', 85' |
Report |
| New Caledonia | 1–1 | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
| Wajoka 44' |
Report | Kainihewe 56' |
| Cook Islands | 0–1 | Tahiti |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Tinorua 64' |
Group B
| Solomon Islands | 12–1 |  American Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Totori 12', 15' Menapi 20' (pen.), 41', 75', 82'Fa'arodo 43'Waita 58', 85'Bebeu 69' Molea 77'Takayama 90+2' |
Report | Ott 55' (pen.) |
Tonga  | 4–0 | American Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Moala 37' (pen.) Palu 54', 61'K. Uhatahi 86' |
Report |
| Vanuatu | 0–2 | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Bebeu 60' Fa'arodo 64' |
Samoa  | 0–3 | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Totori 1', 37' Maemae 69' |
Knockout stage
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| Solomon Islands | 2 | |||||
| New Caledonia | 3 | |||||
| New Caledonia | 1 | |||||
| Fiji | 0 | |||||
| Fiji | 3 | |||||
| Vanuatu | 0 | |||||
| Third place match | ||||||
| Solomon Islands | 0 | |||||
| Vanuatu | 2 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Solomon Islands | 2–3 | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| Fa'arodo 40' Menapi 47' |
Report | Kabeu 37' P. Toto 54'Mercier 90+4' |
Bronze medal match
| Solomon Islands | 0–2 | Vanuatu |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Soromon 45+3' Sakama 50' |
Gold medal match
| New Caledonia | 1–0 | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
| Hmaé 61' |
Report |
| 2007 South Pacific Games winners |
|---|
 New Caledonia Fifth title |
(Note): The three medallists, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu, advanced to the 2008 OFC Nations Cup (together with automatic qualifier New Zealand).
Advancement questions
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.
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
Iamel Kabeu
4 goals
Roy Krishna
Henry Fa'arodo- Benjamin Totori
Etienne Mermer- François Sakama
3 goals
2 goals
Teariki Mateariki- Malakai Kainihewe
- Malakai Tiwa
- Taniela Waqa
- Pierre Wajoka
Chris Cahill- Desmond Fa'aiuaso
- Penitito Tumua
- Godwin Bebeu
- Alick Maemae
- Stanley Waita
Pio Palu- Richard Iwai
- Moise Poida
1 goal
Ramin Ott- Thomas La Mouton
- Kunda Tom
- Joasaia Bukalidi
- Peni Finau
- José Hmaé
- Yohann Mercier
- Poulidor Toto
- Damien Fonoti
- Junior Michael
- Lionel Taylor
- Judd Molea
- Samson Takayama
Temarii Tinorua- Axel Williams
- Unaloto Feao
- Lafeale Moala
- Malakai Savieti
- Kaisani Uhatahi
Viliamu Sekifu- Andrew Chichirua
- Victor Maleb
- Jean Nako Naprapol
- Tom Tomake
1 own goal
- Stephen Willis (against Tuvalu)