The Futsal Whites have continued their march towards the World Cup in impressive fashion with a second successive comfortable victory at the OFC Futsal Nations Cup, sweeping aside Vanuatu 8-1 in Nouméa.

After defeating American Samoa 9-0 in their opening game, New Zealand were looking to continue their good form in front of goal and did just that with a comprehensive attacking display, Miroslav Malivuk and Jordan Ditfort leading the way by notching doubles while four other players also got on the scoresheet.

The result means the Futsal Whites have already secured safe passage to the semi-finals, with tonight’s remaining group game against hosts New Caledonia still to come. That heavyweight clash will determine who tops the group as Les Cagous also have a perfect record after winning both of their matches so far.

New Zealand showed their intent from the outset with Dylan Manickum setting up captain Malivuk for the opener, quickly followed by a lovely finish from Ditfort with less than three minutes on the clock.

Sandy Mesau forced a couple of good saves from Ellias Billeh at the other end but the New Zealanders continued to control the tempo of the game with Malivuk adding to his tally before Oban Hawkins netted midway through the first period.

Despite Vanuatu not conceding again in the opening half, the Futsal Whites showed intensity, concentration, speed and accuracy to have every reason to go into the break satisfied with their work.
 

Vanuatu goalkeeper Anthony Quai produced a string of saves to keep his side in the game at the start of the second half and his outfield players responded by creating a number of scoring opportunities on the counter to test the New Zealanders.

The Melanesians’ resistance was finally broken though when Stephen Ashby-Peckham teed up Brayden Lissington.

Captain and Vanuatu futsal legend Ben Hungai then got his side on the scoreboard but his celebrations were cut short with the Kiwis scoring three goals in quick succession through Ditfort, Logan Wisnewski and Manickum to cap their win.

Futsal Whites coach Marvin Eakins was delighted with his team’s performance.

“We knew Vanuatu would bounce back from yesterday’s loss and they have,” he said.

“They were much improved in their performance and they challenged us on the counter attack. They defended really well in their half as well, so we’re pretty happy that we were able to break them down with a couple of early goals and continue scoring on a regular basis.”

Despite already securing a semi-final berth, Eakins says the Futsal Whites will be targeting nothing less than three points tonight.

“We always play to win so we’ll go out there and have a good battle with New Caledonia,” he said.

“We know it’s always a great game when we play them, we’ve won some and lost some so we’re really looking forward to the battle and I’m sure they are as well.”

The match kicks off at 9pm (NZT) and live streaming is available via www.oceaniafootball.com

Match Details

New Zealand 8 (Miroslav Malivuk 2’, 11’, Jordan Ditfort 3’, 31’, Oban Hawkins 12’, Brayden Lissington 30’, Logan Wisnewski 32’, Dylan Manickum 33’)
Vanuatu 1 (Ben Hungai 30’)
HT: 4-0

Article added: Wednesday 30 October 2019