Vanuatu upset one of the tournament favourites New Zealand with a 1-1 draw in their Group A game at the OFC Futsal Cup tournament in Fiji.
The Futsal Whites had taken an early lead through captain Rahan Ali.
But late in the match, a defensive mix-up by New Zealand opened the way for Rhydley Napau to level for Vanuatu.
Earlier in the day, Fiji FA Presidents Five beat Tonga 9-0 in the other Group A game.
Results
Game played on Tuesday September 13, 2022
New Zealand 5 (Rahan Ali 2′, 26′, Sean McIntee 18′, Jordi Ditford 24′, Hamish Grey 28′)
Fiji FA Presidents Five 1 (Ravneel Pal 12′)
Game played on Wednesday September 14, 2022
New Zealand 1 (Rahan Ali 3′)
Vanuatu 1 (Rhydley Napau 26′)
Group A
Fixture
Group A
New Zealand v Tonga
September 16, 3.30pm (NZT)
Draw
The Futsal Whites have been drawn in Group A with Tonga, Vanuatu, and a Fiji Football Association ‘President’s Five’.
Group B consists of Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa and Solomon Islands.
Four group games will take place each day at the Vodafone Arena, Suva.
At the conclusion of group play, the teams will split into a Cup and a Plate section for the knockout stage.
The winners and runners-up from each group meet in the semi-finals of the Cup while the other teams meet in the semi-finals of the Plate competition.
The semi-finals will produce the finalists for the Cup and Plate and the losing semi-finalists will play off for places, enabling all eight sides to be placed in order at the end of the tournament.
Futsal Whites squad
Rahan Ali (Southern United)*
Yousif Al-Kalisy (Auckland City FC)*
Mike Antamanov (Auckland City FC)*
Stephen Ashby (Auckland City FC)
Jordi Ditfort (Waikato Rapids)
Hamish Grey (ASD Isola 5)*
Oban Hawkins (Northern Comets)
Ethan Martin (Waikato Rapids)*
Sean McIntee (Auckland City FC)*
Adam Paulsen (Auckland City FC)*
Casey Sharplin (Waikato Rapids)*
Patrick Steele (Waikato Rapids)*
Denny Twigg (Northern Comets)*
Logan Wisnewski (Waikato Rapids)
* Debut senior squad selection
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