New Zealand have further underlined their dominance at age-group level in the Oceania region, finally overcoming a spirited display from hosts Solomon Islands on penalties to claim a seventh straight OFC U-16 Championship at a packed Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara this evening.

The hero was goalkeeper Alex Paulsen, who pulled off a stunning penalty save in the dying stages of the game to keep the scores locked at nil-all and then repeated the feat in the shoot-out to earn his country a second regional title in a matter of weeks. New Zealand also became champions of their confederation at U-19 level in August and now have both the FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups to look forward to next year.

With two World Cup places on offer at the OFC U-16 Championship, both finalists had already secured their berths in Peru but that did not make the final any less competitive and New Zealand coach Jose Figueira was ecstatic to have completed the job in such dramatic circumstances.

“I probably can’t find the words right now but I said to the guys on the sideline before that final penalty that we’ve quite possibly experienced everything there is to experience,” he said.

“This is an incredible place to play football and the boys have learned and gone through so much. To have succeeded at the end of it all is only going to do huge things for us moving forward to the World Cup next year.”

The win was made all the more remarkable by the fact that New Zealand had been comprehensively outplayed by the same opponents in a 5-0 loss just a few days earlier but bounced back to exact revenge when it mattered most.

“It was really important to get the win today and we have to thank our goalkeeper for coming up big right at the end there,” Figueira said.

“I won’t hide anything, I think the last 20 minutes after that drinks break in the second half we had to roll our sleeves up and dig in against a relentless team. I was really proud of the way the boys did that and we trained for penalties at every training – it was good to see the boys stick to the process and come up big when it mattered.”

It was obvious from the early stages that there was not likely to be a repeat of the previous outcome between the pair as New Zealand began confidently, showing composure in possession and denying the pacey Solomons the chance to get in behind.

Clear sights of goal proved hard to come by throughout the match but the Kiwis did have a chance to open the scoring just before the first drinks break on 30 minutes. Top scorer Henry Hamilton was played in on goal by a quick free kick but his effort was kept out by a great save from Davidson Malam and Bradley Wilson couldn’t get his follow up on target.

The reflexes of Paulsen were then required just before the half-time break to beat away a low drive and then spring back to his feet to make another block, though the offside flag was raised for the second attempt.

Neither side could create much of note in the first part of the second half as an absorbing contest continued to unfold but, in the final 10 minutes, substitute Oskar Van Hattum and Sean Bright both had shots saved while Paulsen was called into action at the other end on a couple of occasions.

As Figueira alluded to, the Solomon Islands then piled on the pressure in the closing stages as they desperately searched for the goal that would have sent their thousands of rowdy supporters delirious.
 

Those fans thought they were finally on the verge of seeing it when Raphael Le’ai was brought down in the box and dusted himself off to take a spot kick that would surely have claimed the title for his country. But Paulsen dived to his right to athletically keep out the side-footed attempt and, with extra time not part of the competition regulations, the match then went straight to a penalty shoot-out.

Van Hattum, Marko Stamenic, Matthew Garbett and Joseph Lee all kept their cool to slot home while Paulsen continued his match-winning heroics by saving from Derick Taebo. That left Bright with the honour of scoring the decisive penalty and he duly obliged to send New Zealand to Peru on a victorious note.

Paulsen will deservedly claim the plaudits but Figueira was quick to reference the efforts of fellow goalkeeper Luca Taylor and insisted it was very much a collective effort by the entire squad across the tournament.

“We’ve rotated our goalkeeper every game, both have had an incredible experience here and played a massive part in the success, like everyone else in the team,” he said.

“I’m lost for words and I really couldn’t be prouder of the team today.”

New Zealand were also involved in the individual honours with Paulsen receiving the Golden Gloves as the tournament's best-performing goalkeeper while Le’ai earned both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot.

Match Details

Solomon Islands 0
New Zealand 0
HT: 0-0
New Zealand win 5-4 on penalties

New Zealand: 1. Alex Paulsen (GK), 2. Max Drake, 3. Kris Naicker, 4. Adam Hillis, 6. Campbell Strong (c), 7. Marko Stamenic, 9. Henry Hamilton (10. Joseph Lee 69’), 11. Matthew Garbett, 15. Bradley Wilson (14. Oskar Van Hattum 58’), 16. Sean Bright, 17. Nathan Lobo (8. Jackson Manuel 90’)
Substitutes not used: 5. Ryan Verney, 12. Luca Taylor (GK), 13. Finn O’Connor, 18. Benjamin Old, 19. Hayden Aish, 20. Harry Bark
Cautions: 7. Marko Stamenic 10’, Max Drake 45’ + 2’, Adam Hillis 60’, Sean Bright 72’
Coach: Jose Figueira

Article added: Saturday 22 September 2018