Vanuatu’s George Chichirua races past Tonga’s Kulisitofa Kite in the OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifier 2023 Photo: OFC Media via Phototek
Papua New Guinea will play its first match of the Oceania men's Olympic Qualifier in Auckland at the weekend after overcoming visa issues.
The team was unable to travel to Auckland last week due to those visa problems and forfeited its game against New Zealand, 3-0.
However, the Oceania Football Confederation has confirmed that the team is in New Zealand and will play Fiji on Saturday at Mt Smart Stadium.
Vanuatu get off the mark
Vanuatu have kept alive their hopes of progressing to the semi-finals after a 4-0 win over Tonga on Thursday.
Both sides had come off 3-0 defeats by Samoa and the Solomon Islands respectively in their opening games.
Nicolas King headed Vanuatu in front from a fifth-minute corner.
George Chichirua doubled the lead on 24 minutes, Giniho Tabe added a third, and King scored in the final 10 minutes.
Tonga were hampered after more than an hour was played, when Kulisitofa Kite was sent off for a second yellow card offence.
Solomons too good for Samoa
The 10 men of Solomon Islands saw off Samoa in their second Group B match to secure their place in the last four.
Despite going a man down after Alford Kanahanimae saw a straight red for a lunging tackle on Luke Salisbury, Solomon Islands were well worth the 3-0 margin.
Junior Rocky scored late in the first half; Javin Wae and Ben Fox netted within four minutes of each other around the hour mark.
Samoa will now face Vanuatu with both sides vying for second place in the group and a daunting semi-final tie against favourites New Zealand.
Solomon Islands will look to complete a 100 percent group stage record when they face Tonga.