New Zealand’s Futsal Whites crushed Tonga 15-1 to finish top of their group at the OFC Futsal Cup in Fiji.
The win ensures New Zealand’s place in the tournament semi-finals when they will play New Caledonia.
New Zealand raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening six minutes and then finished the first half strongly to lead 8-1 at the interval.
The tiring Tongans gave away seven free kicks or penalties in the second half, enabling New Zealand to add seven more goals.
Ethan Martin top-scored with four goals while Oban Hawkins was the Player of the Match.
Results
Game played on Tuesday September 13, 2022
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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
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New Zealand 1 (Rahan Ali 3′)
Vanuatu 1 (Rhydley Napau 26′)
Game played on Friday September 16, 2022
New Zealand 15 (Casery Sharplin 2′, Ethan Martin 4′, 20′, 26′, 37′, Hamish Grey 6′, Rahan Ali 12′, 32′, Sean McIntee 13′, Oban Hawkins 19′, 39′, Stephen Ashby 20′, Adam Paulsen 26′, 33′, Logan Wisnewski 31′)
Tonga 1 (Lachman Atoa 7′)
Group A (final)
Draw
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.
Group B
Friday’s final group game between Solomon Islands and Fiji was a 6-6 draw.
New Zealand will play second-placed New Caledonia in the semi-finals.
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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