14th of September 2005
My second match in charge of Fiji today and hopefully I got enough of a look at the players in the last game to tweak up the tactics which will give us victory here today. Australia will be no easy task but hopefully they are down after that 3-1 loss to rivals New Zealand.
September 14th ,2005 World Cup Qualifying Final Section Match 8 (h)
Fiji V Australia
Fiji (4-4-2) Seamus Sambhu Khan- Netani Qalo, John Lee, Shailemdra Lal, Ovini Duguca- Robert Khan, Penaia Nabu, Netani Moce, Luke Nabaro- Esala Masi, Robert Wise
Subs: Laisenia Tuba (gk), Monesh Sharma, Malakai Kainihewe, Dirend Ali, Noa Seru, Jone Vono, Penaia Pio
Josefa Duguca is replaced by his brother in the squad today after the head injury he received in the last match. Also Junior Bukalidi is replaced by Robert Khan on the right side of midfield. Moving onto the bench is defender Monesh Sharma from the U-21 side
We were lucky to not be behind in the first minute after this star studded Australian side which contains the likes of Kewell, Viduka, Bresciano had the first attack. Viduka was the one who flicked the ball into the centre but luckily Khan was positioned right to save Kewell's volley from two yards out. We fell behind in the seventh minute when Bresciano got free of his man and a through ball found him. His shot was low and hard but Khan got his gloves to it but only to push it away to the feet Viduka who had no problem to tap the ball into an unguarded net. Kewell almost made it two on the half hour mark but his clever run and drive went over the bar. Another chance for Kewell five minutes before half time when he beat three Fijian defenders but found Khan in the way when he shot from only five yards out. Agostino made it two for Australia a minute later when he lost his marker , Lal, and buried the ball into the back of the net. Viduka made it three before the break when Lal seemed to not see a ball coming straight to him.
Everything was going fine well fine I mean we weren’t under any pressure until the seventy fifth minute mark when Qalo decides to kick an opponent and receive his second yellow card and go off. At that moment on I knew I would hand in my resignation because the Fijians just didn’t have the class to match any of these sides and were really just making up the numbers. We fell even further behind two minutes later when a long ball from Kewell found Petrovski and he hammered home the fourth Australian goal. A minute later a slick passing move from us gave Vono the chance to slot home a goal but his shot skimmed wide. The scoring ended there as our mis match with Australia ended 4-0.
Fiji 0:4 Australia
Fiji Goals: -
Australia Goals: Viduka (2), Agostino (1), Petrovski (1)
MoM: Mark Viduka (Australia) Rating-10
Subs: Ali on for Bukalidi (35`), O.Duguca on for J.Duguca (57`), Vono on for Wise (63`)
Booked: Qalo (Fiji), Lee (Fiji), Neill (Australia), Kewell (Australia)
Sent Off: Netani Qalo (Fiji) (Reason: Two bookable offences)
Stadium: National Sports Stadium
Attendance: 24996
The gulf in class between Australia and the smaller like nations such as Fiji was shown in today's match. The Australian players had the better skills in all departments and even with all the determination our players fought with, it wasn't enough. This loss leaves us fourth and not even a chance to dream of taking top spot as we can only take a maximum of six points from our remaining two games. This leaves me with just over two months before our final two games against New Zealand and Vanuatu.
In other matches Tahiti almost upset New Zealand but the Kiwis' managed a goal in the final minute to record a 2-1 victory. Vanuatu had no problems with teaching Papua New Guinea how to play football as they put three goals into the net to finish up with a 3-0 win.
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