Football at the 2015 Pacific Games – Men's tournament

Main article: Football at the 2015 Pacific Games

The 2015 Pacific Games men's football tournament was the 14th edition of the Pacific Games men's football tournament. The men's football tournament was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea between 3–17 July 2015 as part of the 2015 Pacific Games. The tournament was age-restricted and open to men's under-23 national teams only.^[1]

2015 Pacific Games
men's football tournament

Tournament details
Host country	Papua New Guinea
City	Port Moresby
Dates	3–17 July 2015
Teams	8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	New Caledonia (7th title)
Runners-up	Tahiti
Third place	Papua New Guinea
Fourth place	Fiji
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	142 (8.88 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Jean Kaltack (17 goals)
← 2011 2019 →

2015 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Final positions
Champions	Fiji (1st title)
Runners-up	Vanuatu
Third place	Papua New Guinea
Fourth place	New Zealand
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15
Goals scored	138 (9.2 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Jean Kaltack (17 goals)
← 2012 2019 →

The tournament also doubled as the 7th edition of the OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the quadrennial international tournament organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) to determine which men's under-23 national teams from Oceania qualify for the Olympic football tournament. A separate qualifying tournament was initially set to take place at Tonga between 2–12 December 2015.^[2] However, it was later decided to absorb the qualifying tournament into the Pacific Games, as the New Zealand team participated for the first time in the Pacific Games men's football tournament.^[3][4]

As some of the participating teams are not members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and thus ineligible for the Olympics, there were two separate knockout stages, one for Olympic qualifying where the winner qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics men's football tournament,^[5] and another for determining the Pacific Games medalists.^[6]

New Caledonia won the Pacific Games gold medal, while Fiji qualified for the Olympic football tournament for the first time after winning the OFC Olympic qualifying tournament.^[7]

Teams

A total of eight teams participated in the tournament.^[6]

Team	Appearance	Previous best performance
Fiji	12th	Gold medal (1991, 2003)
FS Micronesia	2nd	Group stage (2003)
New Caledonia	14th	Gold medal (1963, 1969, 1971, 1987, 2007, 2011)
New Zealand	1st	Debut
Papua New Guinea (hosts)	13th	Bronze medal (1969, 1987)
Solomon Islands	12th	Silver medal (1991, 1995, 2011)
Tahiti	14th	Gold medal (1966, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1995)
Vanuatu	14th	Silver medal (1971)

Eligibility status

The teams are eligible for one or both knockout stages depending on their affiliation.^[6]

Team	Affiliated to					Eligible for
	OFC	FIFA	IOC	Pacific Games Council		Olympic Qualifying knockout stage	Pacific Games knockout stage
Fiji	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
FS Micronesia	No	No	Yes	Yes		No	Yes
New Caledonia	Yes	Yes	No	Yes		No	Yes
New Zealand	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	No
Papua New Guinea	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Solomon Islands	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Tahiti	Yes	Yes	No	Yes		No	Yes
Vanuatu	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes

Venues

Port Moresby
Bisini Sports Complex	Sir Hubert Murray Stadium
9.471732°S 147.200810°E / -9.471732; 147.200810 (Bisini Field)	9.466323°S 147.156674°E / -9.466323; 147.156674 (Sir Hubert Murray Stadium)

Squads

Main article: Football at the 2015 Pacific Games – Men's team squads

Group stage

The draw was held on 1 June 2015 at the OFC Headquarters at Auckland.^[8] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four.

For the OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, only the five teams (Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) which are FIFA and IOC members were eligible. The top two IOC member teams of each group advanced to the Olympic Qualifying semi-finals.

For the Pacific Games Men's Football Tournament, the top two teams of each group advanced to the Pacific Games semi-finals with the exception of New Zealand, who were not eligible as they are not a Pacific Games Council member.

All times UTC+10.^[9]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Tahiti	3	2	1	0	32	1	+31	7	Pacific Games knockout stage
2	Fiji	3	1	2	0	39	1	+38	5	Olympic Qualifying and Pacific Games knockout stage
3	Vanuatu	3	1	1	1	48	3	+45	4	Olympic Qualifying knockout stage
4	Micronesia	3	0	0	3	0	114	−114	0

Source: OFC

Micronesia	0–30	Tahiti
	Report	Maihi 2', 34', 46', 52', 86' Hauata 9', 48', 90+6' Tehuritaua 12', 20', 40', 45+2' Tehina 24', 38', 49', 54' Petigas 34' Tihoni 50', 51', 90+1' Tissot 60', 64', 66', 75', 82', 85' Taupotini 63' Tauira 90', 90+2', 90+4'

3 July 2015 (2015-07-03)

10:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Ichikawa Polovili (Tonga)^[10]

Fiji	1–1	Vanuatu
Chand 63'	Report	J. Kaltack 20'

3 July 2015 (2015-07-03)

14:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Gerald Oiaka (Solomon Islands)^[10]

---

Micronesia	0–38	Fiji
	Report	Wasasala 2', 6', 27', 29', 30', 36', 52', 56', 65' Tuivuna 4', 9', 28', 43', 45', 45+4', 70', 85', 90+3', 90+6' Verevou 8', 26', 40', 45+2', 45+3' Qasevakatini 10', 12', 24', 59', 67' Prasad 21', 63', 64', 75', 80' Waranaivalu 47' Nawakula 79', 88' Nakalevu 90+5'

5 July 2015 (2015-07-05)

10:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Hillary Ani (Papua New Guinea)^[11]

Tahiti	2–1	Vanuatu
Tissot 70' Hauata 80'	Report	B. Kaltack 54' (pen.)

5 July 2015 (2015-07-05)

14:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: George Time (Solomon Islands)^[11]

---

Vanuatu	46–0	Micronesia
T. Kaltack 2', 18', 27', 49', 53', 56' Nicholls 3', 16', 37', 45+3', 50', 57', 61', 64', 65', 72' J. Kaltack 4', 6', 17', 34', 37', 44', 45', 45+2', 47', 54', 59', 60', 66', 73', 90+3', 90+4' Mansale 12', 20', 22', 29', 30', 36' Damalip 14', 45+1' B. Kaltack 23' Nikiau 55' Roqara 68', 89' Manuhi 74' Andrews 90'	Report

7 July 2015 (2015-07-07)

11:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Ichikawa Polovili (Tonga)^[12]

Tahiti	0–0	Fiji
	Report

7 July 2015 (2015-07-07)

14:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Gerald Oiaka (Solomon Islands)^[12]

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	3	3	0	0	8	0	+8	9	Olympic Qualifying knockout stage
2	New Caledonia	3	2	0	1	2	5	−3	6	Pacific Games knockout stage
3	Papua New Guinea (H)	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1	3	Olympic Qualifying and Pacific Games knockout stage
4	Solomon Islands	3	0	0	3	1	5	−4	0

Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

New Zealand	2–0	Solomon Islands
Patterson 29' Rufer 40'	Report

3 July 2015 (2015-07-03)

12:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Ravitesh Behari (Fiji)^[10]

Papua New Guinea	0–1	New Caledonia
	Report	Kauma 57'

3 July 2015 (2015-07-03)

15:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Robinson Banga (Vanuatu)^[10]

---

New Caledonia	1–0	Solomon Islands
Peter 85' (o.g.)	Report

5 July 2015 (2015-07-05)

12:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Kader Zitouni (Tahiti)^[11]

Papua New Guinea	0–1	New Zealand
	Report	Patterson 60'

5 July 2015 (2015-07-05)

15:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)^[11]

---

Solomon Islands	1–2	Papua New Guinea
Tome 87'	Report	Semmy 18' Sabua 65'

7 July 2015 (2015-07-07)

11:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Ravitesh Behari (Fiji)^[12]

New Caledonia	0–5	New Zealand
	Report	Hudson-Wihongi 13' Rogerson 29', 61', 68' Prelevic 47'

7 July 2015 (2015-07-07)

14:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Kader Zitouni (Tahiti)^[12]

Olympic Qualifying knockout stage

Only the five teams (Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) which are both FIFA and IOC members were eligible for this stage.

	Semi-finals				Final
	10 July – Port Moresby
	Fiji	3
					12 July – Port Moresby
	Papua New Guinea	1
					Fiji (pen.)	0 (4)
	10 July – Port Moresby
					Vanuatu	0 (3)
	New Zealand	0
	Vanuatu (awd.)	3

Olympic Qualifying semi-finals

Fiji	3–1	Papua New Guinea
Qasevakatini 3', 45+1', 53'	Report	Semmy 10' (pen.)

10 July 2015 (2015-07-10)

11:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)^[13]

New Zealand	0–3 Awarded	Vanuatu
Patterson 47' Tuiloma 56'	Report

10 July 2015 (2015-07-10)

14:30

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Ravitesh Behari (Fiji)^[13]

New Zealand advanced to the Olympic Qualifying final with a 2–0 result, but were replaced by Vanuatu on the day of the final after the Oceania Football Confederation found that they had fielded an ineligible player, Deklan Wynne. The match was declared a 3–0 victory for Vanuatu.^[14][15] New Zealand were unable to appeal before the final was played and subsequently announced they would appeal,^[16] but on 23 October 2015, the OFC announced that New Zealand's appeal had been rejected,^[17] meaning New Zealand's only chance to overturn the decision would be to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.^[18] On 13 November 2015, New Zealand Football confirmed that they would not appeal.^[19]

Olympic Qualifying final

Fiji	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Vanuatu
	Report
Penalties
Tuivuna Qasevakatini Prasad Sivoki Verevo Dreola	4–3	B. Kaltack Vava Kalo T. Kaltack J. Kaltack Kalsarap

12 July 2015 (2015-07-12)

18:00

Sir Hubert Murray Stadium, Port Moresby

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)^[20]

Fiji qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics. This was the first time a team from OFC other than Australia or New Zealand qualified for the Olympics.

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament1
Fiji	12 July 2015	0 (debut)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year. Statistics include all Olympic format (current Olympic under-23 format started in 1992).

Pacific Games knockout stage

New Zealand were not eligible as they are not a Pacific Games Council member.

	Semi-finals				Gold medal match
	15 July – Port Moresby
	Tahiti	2
					17 July – Port Moresby
	Papua New Guinea	1
					Tahiti	0
	15 July – Port Moresby
					New Caledonia	2
	New Caledonia	2
	Fiji	1
					Bronze medal match
					17 July – Port Moresby
					Papua New Guinea	2
					Fiji	1

Pacific Games semi-finals

Tahiti	2–1	Papua New Guinea
Tissot 55' Lucas 76'	Report	Semmy 83'

15 July 2015 (2015-07-15)

11:00

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Ravitesh Behari (Fiji)^[21]

New Caledonia	2–1	Fiji
Ouka 5' Decoire 42'	Report	Qasevakatini 34'

15 July 2015 (2015-07-15)

14:30

Bisini Sports Complex, Port Moresby

Referee: Kader Zitouni (Tahiti)^[21]

Bronze medal match

Papua New Guinea	2–1	Fiji
Aisa 8' A. Komolong 90+1'	Report	Tuivuna 50'

17 July 2015 (2015-07-17)

15:00

Sir Hubert Murray Stadium, Port Moresby

Referee: Gerald Oiaka (Solomon Islands)^[22]

Gold medal match

Tahiti	0–2	New Caledonia
	Report	Ouka 30' Oiremoin 74' (pen.)

17 July 2015 (2015-07-17)

19:00

Sir Hubert Murray Stadium, Port Moresby

Referee: Ravitesh Behari (Fiji)^[22]

Goalscorers

17 goals

• Jean Kaltack

11 goals

• Antonio Tuivuna

10 goals

• Bill Nicholls

9 goals

• Napolioni Qasevakatini
• Christopher Wasasala

8 goals

• Fred Tissot

6 goals

• Tony Kaltack
• Barry Mansale

5 goals

• Garish Prasad
• Iosefo Verevou
• Michel Maihi

4 goals

• Manuarii Hauata
• Mauarii Tehina
• Tevairoa Tehuritaua

3 goals

• Monty Patterson
• Logan Rogerson
• Tommy Semmy
• Raiamanu Tauira
• Yohann Tihoni

2 goals

• Manasa Nawakula
• Jim Ouka
• Dalong Damalip
• Brian Kaltack
• Abraham Roqara

1 goal

• Nickel Chand
• Savenaca Nakalevu
• Tevita Waranaivalu
• Cedric Decoire
• Pierre Kauma
• Raphael Oiremoin
• Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi
• Luka Prelevic
• Alex Rufer
• Bill Tuiloma
• Patrick Aisa
• Alwin Komolong
• Jacob Sabua
• Davidson Tome
• Tauatua Lucas
• Louis Petigas
• Tehei Taupotini
• Chris Andrews
• Zicka Manuhi
• Nemani Nickiau

Own goal

• Allen Peter (playing against New Caledonia)

See also

• Football at the 2015 Pacific Games – Women's tournament

References

1. "Pacific Games soccer to be played at Under 23 level". Fiji Village. 16 February 2015.
2. "OFC Executive Committee decisions". Oceania Football Confederation. April 23, 2014. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
3. "OFC Executive Committee outcomes". Oceania Football Confederation. October 20, 2014. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015.
4. "OFC Insider Issue 6". Oceania Football Confederation. March 11, 2015. p. 8.
5. "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD – RIO 2016 – Football" (PDF). Rio 2016 Official Website. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original (pdf) on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
6. "OFC Olympic Qualifying schedule unveiled". OceaniaFootball.com. 1 June 2015. Archived from the original on 3 June 2015.
7. "Fiji fairytale continues with Rio ticket". FIFA.com. 12 July 2015. Archived from the original on July 14, 2015.
8. "Draw defines Road to Rio". Oceania Football Confederation. June 3, 2015. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015.
9. "XV Pacific Games – Papua New Guinea 2015 Match Schedule" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-04.
10. "Football to get XV Pacific Games started". oceaniafootball.com. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
11. "Action aplenty lined up for Day 2". oceaniafootball.com. 5 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
12. "Formalities for some, crunch-time for the rest". oceaniafootball.com. 7 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
13. "Olympic Final up for grabs". oceaniafootball.com. 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
14. "Vanuatu and Fiji to contest Olympic final". Oceania Football Confederation. 12 July 2015. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015.
15. "Oly Whites to miss Olympics due to ineligible player". New Zealand Herald. 12 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
16. Strang, Ben; Hyslop, Liam. "New Zealand Football confirm intent to appeal Olympic expulsion". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
17. "OFC Appeals Committee Decision". Oceania Football Confederation. October 23, 2015. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015.
18. "New Zealand Football's Olympics eligibility appeal to Oceania fails". Stuff. October 23, 2015.
19. "NZF Statement: OFC eligibility appeal". New Zealand Football. November 13, 2015. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
20. "FIJ 0–0 VAN (4–3 PENS)". Oceania Football Confederation. 12 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
21. "Men back in action at Pacific Games". oceaniafootball.com. 15 July 2015. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
22. "Gold up for grabs in Francophone final". oceaniafootball.com. 17 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.

External links

• Official 2015 Pacific Games website
• XV Pacific Games Men's Tournament, Official OFC website