Tahiti National Football Team

Tahiti is one of the world's most remote islands with a population of only 178,000.

Did you know they had a national football team? Well I didn't. I didn't even know where they were situated on the map. My idea of Tahiti is the group of huts in the middle of crystal ocean water.



BRIEF HISTORY
The Tahiti national football team was formed in 1938, but only joined the Oceania Football Confederation and FIFA over fifty years later, and represents the country of French Polynesia.

The first game Tahiti played was a 2-2 draw with New Zealand in 1952. Tahiti have lost 10-0 twice, against New Zealand and Spain. Their biggest win was an unbelievable 30-0 win over the Cook Islands.

Tahiti first entered the World Cup in time for the 1994 edition where they did not qualify. However, they have entered every other World Cup but are yet to qualify.

OCEANIA NATIONS CUP
Although history suggested that Tahiti would struggle to make the semi-finals of the Nations Cup, the team managed to win the competition.

FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP 2013
There is only one professional player in the squad - Marama Vahirua. The striker, who is currently at Greek club Panthrakikos, is the only Tahitian to ever play professionally outside the island.

"Everything is rather new, I have never lived this before,'' Vahirua said through a translator at a news conference attended by only two reporters from Tahiti. "I have never been at such a tournament. It will be a very first time for me as well. I will try not to be shy.''

According to Tahiti coach Eddie Etaeta, of the 23 players, nine are unemployed, while others have day jobs as delivery boys, truck drivers, physical education teachers and accountants.

"I don't feel at ease because it's not what we are used to at home,'' Etaeta said. "When I got here and saw this huge stadium I felt a bit cold. It's a stadium loaded with history ... In the dressing room I was really astonished to see these huge lockers.''

"Today the star is Tahiti,'' Etaeta said. "I'm proud the whole of media looks to Tahiti ... and we will try to draw lessons so we can improve our football.''



Highlights of the Tournament
Tahiti (138) was the lowest ranked team. They seemed afraid to take shots from long distance and failed to time their passes accurately.
Tahiti scored 2 own goals, allowed 24 goals into their net, and lost; Nigeria 6-1 Tahiti, Spain 10-0 Tahiti and Uruguay 8-0 Tahiti.
Tahiti lost all 3 of their group matches, while giving away 4 hat-tricks.
Tahiti rotated all three of their goalkeepers (Samin, Roche and Meriel).
Ludivion received a second yellow card against Uruguay and was sent off.
The Tahitian footballers thanked the fans for their support after their defeat to Uruguay.

However, they leave the tournament with $1.7 million.

Spain: 1st or 2nd Team

Not to confuse you or myself for that matter, this post tackles two topics: the Spanish 2nd team and its 10-0 thrashing of Tahiti.

'If you are first, you are first. If you are second, you are nothing' - Bill Shankly



SPANISH FIFA CONFEDERATIONS SQUAD
GOALKEEPERS
Victor Valdes
Jose Manuel Reina
Iker Casillas


DEFENDERS
Gerard Pique
Sergio Ramos
Raul Albiol
Cesar Azpilicueta
Jordi Alba
Alvaro Arbeloa
Nacho Monreal


MIDFIELDERS
Andres Iniesta
Cesc Fabregas
Sergio Busquets
Santi Cazorla
Xavi
Javi Martinez


ATTACKERS
David Villa
Jesus Navas
David Silva
Fernando Torres
Pedro
Juan Mata
Roberto Soldado


KEY:
1st TEAM
2nd TEAM
1st TEAM SUBS


THE WAY I SEE IT
No offence but why would you be selected to play against Tahiti? Simple, you were not good enough for selection against Uruguay and maybe even Nigeria. I would evaluate myself if I was chosen to play against Tahiti.

However, it was inevitable for Spain to thrash Tahiti 10-0. A team ranked 1st against a team ranked 138th - what did you expect?

Egotistically, Fernando Torres said on his Spain return: "I have been playing 10 years for the national team so (I have) nothing to prove. I am not a kid".

Well Torres, you were relegated to the 2nd team, of course you have something to prove. I guess your Chelsea misfiring days put you in this position, but proving yourself in a match against Tahiti is just pitiful, and you boasting about it just shows how ridiculous you sound.
PS. Bill Shankly

Moving along, imagine if the 1st team was playing, then there would have been a possibility that the result would've been colossal, I mean bigger than 10-0. They could've beaten their 13-0 record. 10 goals scored, and not one of them a screamer or contender for goal of the tournament.

Maybe there is no 1st and 2nd team. Maybe Vincente del Bosque just wanted all his footballers to get some game time.
Just think about it.

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FIFA Confederations Cup 2013

This edition of the Confederations Cup held in Brazil, serves as a build-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, also held in Brazil. The Confederations Cup will begin on June 15 to June 30 2013. Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Recife, and Salvador will be the six cities which will host the tournament.

From its first edition in Saudi Arabia 16 years ago, the FIFA Confederations Cup has risen in prominence to become a true celebration of football, worthy of the moniker ‘Festival of Champions.’

The FIFA Confederations Cup is an international tournament, now played every four years, featuring eight of the best soccer nations from around the world. The eight teams consist of the six reigning champions of the FIFA Confederations (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC), the reigning FIFA World Cup champion and the host nation.

Group A:

Brazil — Host Nation

Japan — Asian Champion

Mexico — North & Central American Champion

Italy — European Runner-Up

Group B:

Spain — World Cup & European Champion

Uruguay — South American Champion

Tahiti — Oceania Champion

Nigeria — African Champion

BALL

The Adidas Cafusa is the official match ball for the tournament. The name and design of the ball symbolize the Brazilian culture of carnival, football and samba. The ball features 32 thermal panels across a seamless surface, providing a more predictable trajectory and better touch.

TROPHY

Date of manufacture: 1997 (re-designed in 2012)

Weight: 8.6 kg

Height: 40 cm

Material: Bronze, gold plated, lapis lazuli base, ebony

Description: The trophy is a reflection of the tournament's theme "Festival of Champions". It has two gold ribbons wrapped around the body in a decorative style that connects six emblems with the name of each confederation on the base. The globe is a reference to the six continents whose national teams participate in the event.

GOAL-LINE TECHNOLOGY

The use of goal-line technology will be used for the first time in a major tournament since its advent a while back. 14 high-speed cameras will be installed in each stadium to guarantee accuracy ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

2013 FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP IN NUMBERS

·         Brazil has played in more FIFA Confederations Cups than any other team; this will be their seventh since 1997, all of them consecutive. They also claimed their FIFA Confederations Cup titles across three different continents (Saudi Arabia in 1997, Germany in 2005 and South Africa in 2009).

·         Shunsuke Nakamura and Hidetoshi Nakata are the only Japanese players to have scored in two different editions of the FIFA Confederations Cup.

·         Mexico are the only CONCACAF team to have won the trophy, achieving the feat as hosts in 1999 with a 4-3 win over Brazil in the final. That deciding match of the FIFA Confederations Cup 1999 generated the biggest attendance in the tournament’s history, with 110,000 spectators packing into Mexico City’s Azteca stadium on 4 August.

·         Prior to their match against Haiti on Tuesday, the last match Italy played on Brazilian soil dates back to 1 July 1956, when they lost 2-0 to the host team in a friendly.

·         Not less than 18 members of the Spanish squad at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 went on to be crowned world champions the following year in South Africa. During that 2009 campaign, the 2-0 defeat to USA in the semi-finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 ended Spain’s sequence of 35 matches undefeated.

·         Uruguay’s return to the FIFA Confederations Cup comes after a 16-year absence, which coincides with the time between their last two Copa America triumphs (1995-2011).

·         Tahiti is the third side to represent Oceania in the FIFA Confederations Cup, having been preceded by Australia (before their switch to the AFC in 2006) and New Zealand.

·         Nigeria is one of two unbeaten teams in the history of the FIFA Confederations Cup, having won one match and drawn two. One of those stalemates took place in the match for third place, which the West Africans subsequently lost on penalties.

·         If Uruguay’s Andres Scotti plays a single minute during the 2013 tournament, he would be the fourth oldest player to participate at a FIFA Confederations Cup following Tunisia’s Ali Boumnijel (39 years, two months), Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus (38 years, four months) and Japan’s Ruy Ramos (37 years, ten months).

JUST FOR FUN

If you want to be part of the Confederations Cup, in terms of the following 3 competitions, visit FIFA.

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… GOOD LUCK …