Vanuatu fall short in final

WHEN it comes to football in the Pacific, one of the most diehard followers of the game is our Melanesian brothers, Vanuatu.
From sunrise to sunset, they talk, eat and sleep football and this has become one of the biggest code influencing the younger generation to fall in love with the sport.
One of the country’s proudest moment was making the final of the Oceania men’s nation’s cup which Vanuatu co-hosted with Fiji recently.
Vanuatu fell short of repeating their success of upsetting New Zealand, losing to the All Whites 3-0 in Port Villa on Sunday.
In the 2004 Oceania Nations Cup, Vanuatu beat New Zealand 4-2, preventing the regional powerhouse from making the final and consequently the running for the 2006 Fifa World Cup.
Whether you’re driving or walking, you will never miss kids playing soccer on the side of the road, with every one of them wanting to become like Brian Kaltak, the most popular Vanuatu international footballer who plays with the Central Coast Mariners in Australia’s A-League competition.
Football is the most popular sport in the country after the country became a member of Fifa and the OFC in 1988.
Vanuatu has one of the most advanced football technical programmes in Oceania, particularly at the youth level.
The Melanesian nation was chosen as one of six countries globally to pilot a Fifa project whereby players are identified at a young age and selected to train and stay full-time at the national academy.
As part of that two-year programme for players aged 15-17, consideration is given to continuing school or vocational education.
In March, Fifa invited Vanuatu to the 2024 Fifa Series tournament in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where they faced Guinea and Brunei.
They were crunched by their African continent opponent Guinea 6-0.
Vanuatu recently made history when they beat Fiji in the OFC Nation’s Cup semifinal in Port Villa after 51 years.
However, they were thrashed by heavyweights New Zealand 3-0 at the Freshwota Stadium in Port Vila concluding their campaign at the regional tournament.