Pacific pinnacle event showcases true football passion

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Oceania is serving up its own wonderful and unique football flavours.

<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="640" height="427" data-attachment-id="25652" data-permalink="https://footballoceania.com/2024/06/15/live-ofc-nations-cup-opening-match/ofc-mens-nations-cup-2024-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?fit=4890%2C3260&ssl=1" data-orig-size="4890,3260" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4","credit":"Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.nz","camera":"Canon EOS-1D X Mark II","caption":"OFC Men's Nations Cup 2024, Group A, Solomon Islands v Vanuatu, VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila, Saturday 15 June 2024. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / www.phototek.nz","created_timestamp":"1718432957","copyright":"www.phototek.nz","focal_length":"400","iso":"1600","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"OFC Men's Nations Cup 2024","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="OFC Men’s Nations Cup 2024" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Kensi Tangis (right) and Alex Saniel celebrates Tangis’ goal for Vanuatu in the opening match of the OFC Nations Cup 2024 in Port Vila against Solomon Islands. (Photo: OFC Media via Phototek)

" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-25652" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT013.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" data-recalc-dims="1"/>Kensi Tangis (right) and Alex Saniel celebrates Tangis’ goal for Vanuatu in the opening match of the OFC Nations Cup 2024 in Port Vila against Solomon Islands. (Photo: OFC Media via Phototek)

By Coen Lammers

On Sunday, Vanuatu and New Zealand will square off for the Oceania Football Confederation Nations Cup, the pinnacle event in this part of the world and the stadium will heaving with excitement.

At the European Championship, the stadiums in Germany have been bouncing with fans from all over Europe, but few of those crowds will match the near fanatical masses packing into the Freshwater Stadium in Port Vila the past two weeks.

OFC Nations Cup matches, especially those involving the host team, have been the hottest tickets in town and the 7000 tickets sell out within a couple of hours. That figure represents the official capacity, but with thousands of youngsters under 12 getting free entry, there is barely a spare blade of grass left.

The locals know that need to get there early if you want one of the 1500 seats in the covered stands, and are usually filled two or three hours before kick-off, bringing their own lunches and leaving behind a mountain of peanut shells.

Normal rules, of course, do not apply to local VIPs who want to bask in the glory of Vanuatu’s pinnacle event. With every seat already filled, the unannounced late arrival of Ministers with their entourage has been causing some major juggling acts and diplomacy for the local organisers, trying to keep the officials and the paying punters happy.

An estimated 10,000 packed VFF Freshwater Stadium for Vanuatu’s dramatic semi-final win over Fiji, which is a quarter of the population of Port Vila, with thousands more watching from rooftops, car trunks, woodpiles and any other form of elevation.

<img decoding="async" width="640" height="426" data-attachment-id="25899" data-permalink="https://footballoceania.com/2024/06/29/pacific-pinnacle-event-showcases-true-football-passion/240615pt029/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT029.jpeg?fit=1280%2C853&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1280,853" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="240615PT029" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Crowds have been standing on cars and rooftops to catch a glimps of the matches at the OFC Nations Cup in Port Vila (Photo: OFC via Phototek)

" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT029.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT029.jpeg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT029.jpeg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-25899" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT029.jpeg?resize=1024%2C682&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT029.jpeg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT029.jpeg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT029.jpeg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT029.jpeg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" data-recalc-dims="1"/>Crowds have been standing on cars and rooftops to catch a glimps of the matches at the OFC Nations Cup in Port Vila (Photo: OFC via Phototek)

To say that Vanuatu is football mad would be an understatement, and the nation has been proud and grateful to host their first ever OFC Nations Cup to commemorate the 90-year anniversary of the VFF.

The insolvency of Air Vanuatu threw a late spanner in the works and forced part of the tournament to be moved to Fiji, but would not stop the enthusiastic local organising committee from pulling out all stops to make their guests feel welcome.

Vanuatu and its football federation have significant economic and logistical challenges, that would make football administrators in other countries curl up in the foetal position, but the tournament has so far been gone off without any major glitches.

Some teams raised concerns about the quality of the training pitches, which highlights one of the major challenges Vanuatu football faces for their own development.

Aside from the FIFA-funded Freshwater Stadium, other venues are run by the local government and the pitches are not always their top priority, while the broadleaved island grass makes it difficult to create a smooth surface. The ground staff at Freshwater tried to grow a pitch with thinner grass the players are used to in New Zealand, only to see the local grass to take over in a matter of weeks.

The best training pitch on the main island of Efate turned out to be at the Montmarte School, far in the hills above Port Vila, surrounded by dense tropical bush which can only be reached after some serious off-roading.

The All Whites used Montmarte as their training base, where the support staff got a bit of a fright in their first session, retrieving wayward balls from the bushes and being confronted by huge spiders, allegedly the size of small dogs. As a result, some of the balls were left behind in the bush for the local school kids to retrieve, and the shooting drills were moved to the other goal.

<img decoding="async" width="640" height="427" data-attachment-id="25901" data-permalink="https://footballoceania.com/2024/06/29/pacific-pinnacle-event-showcases-true-football-passion/default/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?fit=3375%2C2250&ssl=1" data-orig-size="3375,2250" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4.5","credit":"","camera":"L1D-20c","caption":"default","created_timestamp":"1719318028","copyright":"","focal_length":"10.26","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.00625","title":"default","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="default" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" The football pitch by the french school in Montmartre, a short drive outside of the centre of Port Vila has been the favoured training pitch for teams. (Photo: OFC via Phototek)

" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-25901" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240625PT002.jpg?w=1920&ssl=1 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" data-recalc-dims="1"/>The football pitch by the french school in Montmartre, a short drive outside of the centre of Port Vila has been the favoured training pitch for teams. The pitch can be seen at the bottom, with the school buildings and the dirt road to the pitch to the right . (Photo: OFC via Phototek)

As coach Darren Bazeley had predicted, the OFC Nations Cup was an eyeopener for some of the New Zealand professionals, cramped into mini-buses, playing on unfamiliar surfaces, against unfamiliar teams and having to get changed in a wooden shed outside the main stadium for the semi-final, because the two main dressing rooms were used for the second semi-final.

“This is back to basics. Some of these guys haven’t seen a shed like this since they played in the under-14s,” joked one of the Kiwi support staff.

To their credit, the young All Whites squad and their coaches took their new surroundings in their stride without complaints and focused on getting the job done.

Many of the squad had experience football in the islands during previous Under-17 and Under-20 campaigns, and went out there way to engage with the locals, shake hands and pose for selfies wherever they travelled.

Instead of being intimidated, the All Whites seemed to feed off the energy of the raucous crowd, who were only a couple of meters from the playing surface, embracing Vanuatu and its football passion.

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="426" data-attachment-id="25898" data-permalink="https://footballoceania.com/2024/06/29/pacific-pinnacle-event-showcases-true-football-passion/240615pt028/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT028.jpeg?fit=1280%2C853&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1280,853" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="240615PT028" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" The Freshwater Stadium in Port Vila has been packed at every match. (Photo: OFC via Phototek)

" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT028.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT028.jpeg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT028.jpeg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-25898" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT028.jpeg?resize=1024%2C682&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT028.jpeg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT028.jpeg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT028.jpeg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/footballoceania.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/240615PT028.jpeg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" data-recalc-dims="1"/>The Freshwater Stadium in Port Vila has been packed at every match. There’s also been fans from the other sides, like these Solomon Islands’ fans. (Photo: OFC via Phototek)

The script for the tournament could not have been better with the local heroes making their first ever final against the overwhelming favourites from New Zealand.

Whatever the result on Sunday, the final will be the biggest day in the annals of Vanuatu football and possibly the most famous day in the history of the friendly island nation.

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Source link : https://footballoceania.com/2024/06/29/pacific-pinnacle-event-showcases-true-football-passion/ Author : Publish date : 2024-06-29 05:25:22 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source .

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Pacific pinnacle event showcases true football passion

JAPAN LEAVES PLAYERS WITH MEMORIES, REFLECTIONS AND DETERMINATION – Badminton Oceania

New Zealand claim Oceania Nations Cup – New Zealand Herald

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