Fiji and New Zealand have booked their spots in the OFC Women's Nations Cup semi finals after crushing victories over Tonga and the Cook Islands in Noumea last night.
Luisa Tamanitoakula bagged four goals against Tonga. Photo: Avikash Chand / OFC Media
Luisa Tamanitoakula bagged four goals, while Cema Nasau and Sofi Diyalowai netted hat-tricks and Trina Davis a brace, as the Bula Girls thumped Tonga 12-0 at Stade Numa Daly to reach the knockout stage for the first time, scoring nine alone in the first half.
It's the first time Fiji has qualified for the knockout rounds in 20 years and coach Marika Rodu said the team needs to maintain their focus.
"We will take the win but at the same time we need to come back down to earth and look ahead to a game which will most probably be New Caledonia or Papua New Guinea," he said.
"So for us while we are getting closer to our goal it's important we stay focused and looking forward to the next game."
"Coming from the qualifiers stage I think we have made a significant progress and it is something that Fiji women's football back in the country would like to reflect back on to measure our level," Rodu reflected.
Sofi Diyalowai was one of four Fiji players to score multiple goals. Photo: Avikash Chand / OFC Media
Meanwhile Emma Rolston scored twice as the defending champion Football Ferns eased to a 6-0 win against the Cook Islands in the later match.
Defender Ria Percival said it took them a while to crack the Cook Islands defence.
"They made it hard for us - I think how deep and compact they did stay made it hard for us to break them down," she said.
Emma Rolston (8) scored twice for the Football Ferns. Photo: Avikash Chand / OFC Media
"But I think we did well to keep the ball and stay composed and take the chances when we did have them, especially in the first half, to get the game going and I think calm us down after we got a few goals."
New Zealand coach Tom Sermanni was quick to praise the Cook Islands team for a strong performance.
"It was good to get the win but I honestly thought Cook Islands put on a great display today. I though they showed a real spirited, determined performance and made life very difficult for us," he said.
"We made a lot of changes from the first game to rest some players and I thought at times we were a little more disjointed than I would like us to be."
Cook Islands coach Tuka Tisam was also pleased with the character and effort shown by his team.
"The girls did really well defending like who we planned and trained for. The spirit is there, digging deep, they just put everything out on the field leaving nothing in the tank."
New Zealand's Paige Satchell and Cook Islands' Lee Maoate-Cox battle for possession. Photo: Avikash Chand / OFC Media
New Zealand and Fiji will meet on Sunday to determine who tops Group B, with the Football Ferns only needing to draw courtesy of a better goal differential.
With Papua New Guinea also through to the semi finals from Group A, the fourth and final knockout berth will be decided tomorrow, with Tahiti, New Caledonia and Samoa all still in contention.