2011 OFC Beach Soccer Championship explained

Tourney Name:2011 OFC Beach Soccer Championship
Other Titles:2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (OFC)
Country:Tahiti
Dates:23–26 February 2011
Num Teams:3
Confederations:1
Venues:1
Cities:1
Count:1
Matches:4
Goals:36
Attendance:5125
Top Scorer: James Naka
Robert Laua
Jo Dugucagi
(4 goals each)
Player: James Naka
Goalkeeper: Jonathan Torohia
Prevseason:2009
Nextseason:2013

The 2011 OFC Beach Soccer Championship took place from 23 February to 26 February 2011,[1] in Papeete, Tahiti, It acted as a qualifier for the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. This was the third time the island had hosted the competition, following the 2006 and 2009 tournaments in Moorea. Only the winners of the tournament, Tahiti, qualified to play in the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The Solomon Islands were the favorites, having won the last 3 other qualifying championships in 2006, 2007 and 2009,[2] but surprisingly lost in the final to Tahiti, despite beating them in the group stage. This means for the first time since 2005, the Solomon Islands will not be representing Oceania at the world cup.

All matches were held at the new Jardin de Paofai complex in Papeete, which was opened on 15 February 2011.

Participating teams

Four teams decided to enter into the tournament to compete for the one spot in the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. These were the same nations who competed in the 2009 OFC Beach Soccer Championship.[3]

Unfortunately, due to a cyclone recently passing through the region,[4] the Vanuatu national team was stranded at their airport as they were about to leave for Tahiti to attend the tournament. As a result, they were forced to withdraw from the tournament.[5] Participating:

Withdrawing:

Group stage

The group stage was going to begin on 22 February but due to the cyclone which forced Vanuatu to withdraw, it commenced on 23 February with no rest day and consisted of each nation playing each other once in a single round-robin format.

All kickoff times are listed as Tahitian local time, (UTC-10).

TeamPldWW+LGFGAGDPts
2200135+86
210179−23
2002915−60


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Awards

width=80% colspan="3"Best Player (MVP)
James Naka
Top Scorer(s)
James Naka Robert Laua Jo Dugucagi
4 goals
Best Goalkeeper
Jonathan Torohia
FIFA Fair Play Award
[6]

Top scorers

4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
2 goals (cont.)
1 goal
Own Goal

Final standings

RankTeam
1
2
3

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: OFC Calendar. oceaniafootball.com. 2010-05-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20100514032323/http://oceaniafootball.com/OFC/AboutOFC/tabid/182/PageContentType/CALENDAR/Default.aspx. 2010-05-14. dead.
  2. Web site: Oceania's Qualifier has been confirmed: Tahití 2011. beachsoccer.com . 2010-05-12.
  3. Web site: Teams eye up beach glory. oceaniafootball.com. 2011-03-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20110127161144/http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc/News/ViewArticle/tabid/125/Article/97664f5f-08ab-48d7-92f9-81f85520588c/language/en-US/Default.aspx. 2011-01-27. dead.
  4. Web site: Beach soccer kick off delayed. oceaniafootball.com. 2011-02-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20110223174601/http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc/News/ViewArticle/tabid/125/Article/302c8418-e120-4b89-8548-16f4012369f4/language/en-US/Default.aspx. 2011-02-23. dead.
  5. Web site: Cyclone Atu strands Vanuatu team. oceaniafootball.com. 2011-02-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20110223174547/http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc/News/ViewArticle/tabid/125/Article/02b4f367-bc66-41d0-9acd-6eb15e1187eb/language/en-US/Default.aspx. 2011-02-23. dead.
  6. Web site: Tahiti stun favourites to qualify for FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. beachsoccer.com . 2011-02-27.