OFC: The Tiki Toa have retained their OFC Beach Soccer Men’s Nations Cup title with a dramatic 3-2 win over the Solomon Islands in front of a passionate capacity crowd in Honiara on Saturday.
Teva Zaveroni’s side will travel to the Seychelles next year for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup™ after having to dig deep to deny an inspired home side.
It’s a shame after a sporting contest like this there has to be a loser, and both sides played like gladiators to produce a world class beach soccer final.
The winner came courtesy of a super strike by Heimanu Terorotua, his second of the match, midway through the final period.
Earlier, it took something special to stun the raucous home crowd into silence after a goalless first period and it was delivered by Terorotua with a thunderbolt freekick in the 16th minute.
The silence lasted less than a minute as a mistake in the Tahiti defence was pounced on by Robert Laua who planted a shot to the right of a despairing Franck Revel. If there was a roof, it would have been blown off with such a noise generated by the fans. But the Tiki Toa have played many big games over the past decade and time and time again they have shown they can come up with big plays.
Ro’onui Tinirauarii stepped up with a trademark bicycle kick goal to restore the defending champions lead a couple of minutes before the end of the second period.
The third period had barely started when the hosts were level courtesy of some wonderful football, and a stinging left foot shot from Erick Wanega.
There was a frenetic start to the match with both teams playing with such intensity that genuine openings were few and far between.
Thomas Amasia forced a brilliant save from Revel in what was the best chance for the hosts in the opening stanza while down the other end, Gervais Chan Kat headed wide of an empty net.
A block from Chan Kat denied Amasia’s shot that looked goal bound before Albert Bobby volleyed over the crossbar for the Bilikiki.
Tamatoa Tetauira forced James Do’oro into making a superb stop from near point-blank range just before the end of the first period and they went in goalless.
