2008 OFC Nations Cup

2008 OFC Nations Cup
Tournament details
Dates 17 October 2007 – 19 November 2008
Teams 4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s) 5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions  New Zealand (4th title)
Runners-up  New Caledonia
Third place  Fiji
Fourth place  Vanuatu
Tournament statistics
Matches played 12
Goals scored 39 (3.25 per match)
Top scorer(s) New Zealand Shane Smeltz (8 goals)

The 2008 OFC Nations Cup was the eighth edition of the OFC Nations Cup, and the first under a new format that was introduced. It took place as a series of as a home-and-away round-robin tournament on FIFA match dates in 2007 and 2008. Doubling as the qualification tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the tournament was substantially different from earlier editions: 2004 champions Australia did not compete after leaving the Oceania Football Confederation for the Asian Football Confederation, and for the first time since the 1996 OFC Nations Cup, no fixed venue was used. Unlike the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, which had featured ten teams from the Oceania Football Confederation, the 2008 tournament had just four teams.

The Cup was won by New Zealand, who as a result qualified for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, and the World Cup qualifying play-off with the AFC 5th-placed team, Bahrain, in which New Zealand were successful.

Participating teams

The four qualified teams for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup were:

Squads

See 2008 OFC Nations Cup Squads

Final tournament

Ranking

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 New Zealand 6 5 0 1 14 5 +915
 New Caledonia 6 2 2 2 12 10 +28
 Fiji 6 2 1 3 8 11 −37
 Vanuatu 6 1 1 4 5 13 −84
  Fiji New Caledonia New Zealand Vanuatu
Fiji  – 3 – 3 0 – 2 2 – 0
New Caledonia  4 – 0 – 1 – 3 3 – 0
New Zealand  0 – 2 3 – 0 – 4 – 1
Vanuatu  2 – 1 1 – 1 1 – 2 –

New Zealand advanced to the AFC-OFC Play-off

Results

17 October 2007
16:00 UTC+12
Fiji  0–2  New Zealand
Report Vicelich  37'
Smeltz  86'
Churchill Park, Lautoka
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA)

17 November 2007
14:00 UTC+11
Vanuatu  1–2  New Zealand
Naprapol  32' Report Smeltz  53'
Mulligan  90+3'
Korman Stadium, Port Vila
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Job Minan (Papua New Guinea)

17 November 2007
15:00 UTC+12
Fiji  3–3  New Caledonia
Nawatu  2'
Vakatalesau  27'  86' 		Report Gjamaci  66'
Kaudre  83'
M. Hmaé  87'
Govind Park, Ba
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)

21 November 2007
19:00 UTC+13
New Zealand  4–1  Vanuatu
Mulligan  17'  81'
Smeltz  29' (pen.)  34' 		Report Sakama  50'
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Averii Jacques (Tahiti)

21 November 2007
19:00 UTC+11
New Caledonia  4–0  Fiji
Wajoka  29' (pen.)
M. Hmaé  32'  61'
Mapou  64' 		Report

14 June 2008
14:00 UTC+11
Vanuatu  1–1  New Caledonia
Mermer  77' Report Djamali  73'
Korman Stadium, Port Vila
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Rakesh Varman (Fiji)

21 June 2008
15:00 UTC+11
New Caledonia  3–0  Vanuatu
Wajoka  36'
M. Hmaé  60'
Diaike  87' 		Report

6 September 2008
15:00 UTC+12
Fiji  2–0  Vanuatu
Kumar  7'
Dunadamu  87' 		Report
Govind Park, Ba
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Job Minan (Papua New Guinea)

6 September 2008
17:00 UTC+11
New Caledonia  1–3  New Zealand
M. Hmaé  55' Report Sigmund  16'
Smeltz  65'  75'
Stade Numa-Daly Magenta, Noumea
Attendance: 2,589
Referee: Rakesh Varman (Fiji)

10 September 2008
14:00 UTC+11
Vanuatu  2–1  Fiji
Sakama  59'
Malas  90+2' 		Report Dunadamu  90+3'

10 September 2008
19:30 UTC+12
New Zealand  3–0  New Caledonia
Smeltz  49'  76'
Christie  69' 		Report

19 November 2008
18:00 UTC+12
New Zealand  0–2  Fiji
Report Krishna  63'  90'
Churchill Park, Lautoka (Fiji)
[note 1]
Attendance: 4,500
Referee: Lencie Fred (Vanuatu)

Notes

  1. ↑ The New Zealand vs Fiji match was originally scheduled for 13 October 2007, but was postponed by FIFA after Fijian goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau was denied a visa by the New Zealand immigration authorities. The match was first rescheduled to be played in the neutral country of Samoa,[1][2] but subsequently moved again to Fiji.[3]


 2008 OFC Nations Cup Winners 

New Zealand
Fourth title

Goalscorers

There were 39 goals scored in 12 games, for an average of 3.25 goals per game. Players in bold advanced to the next round in qualifying.

8 goals
5 goals
3 goals
2 goals

1 goal

References

  1. ↑ Media Statement: New Zealand vs Fiji Match, Oceania Football Confederation. Accessed 2009-09-09. Archived 2009-09-11.
  2. ↑ FIFA cancels New Zealand-Fiji, FIFA.com
  3. ↑ New Zealand to finish World Cup qualifying campaign in Fiji, Oceania Football Confederation.

External links

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