2008 OFC Nations Cup

The 2008 OFC Nations Cup was the eighth edition of the OFC Nations Cup, and the first under a new format that was introduced. It took place as a series of as a home-and-away round-robin tournament on FIFA match dates in 2007 and 2008. Doubling as the qualification tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the tournament was substantially different from earlier editions: 2004 champions Australia did not compete after leaving the Oceania Football Confederation for the Asian Football Confederation, and for the first time since the 1996 OFC Nations Cup, no fixed venue was used. Unlike the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, which had featured six teams from the Oceania Football Confederation, the 2008 tournament had just four teams.

2008 OFC Nations Cup
Tournament details
Dates17 October 2007 – 19 November 2008
Teams4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions New Zealand (4th title)
Runners-up New Caledonia
Third place Fiji
Fourth place Vanuatu
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored39 (3.25 per match)
Top scorer(s) Shane Smeltz (8 goals)

The Cup was won by New Zealand, who as a result qualified for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, and the World Cup qualifying play-off with the AFC 5th-placed team, Bahrain, in which New Zealand were successful.

Participating teams
Main article: Men's football at the 2007 South Pacific Games

The four qualified teams for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup were:

Squads
See 2008 OFC Nations Cup squads

Final tournament

Ranking
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 New Zealand 6 5 0 1 14 5 +9 15 — 3–0 0–2 4–1
 New Caledonia 6 2 2 2 12 10 +2 8 1–3 — 4–0 3–0
 Fiji 6 2 1 3 8 11 −3 7 0–2 3–3 — 2–0
 Vanuatu 6 1 1 4 5 13 −8 4 1–2 1–1 2–1 —
Source:

New Zealand advanced to the AFC-OFC Play-off

Results
Fiji 0–2 New Zealand
Report Vicelich  37'
Smeltz  86'
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA)
Vanuatu 1–2 New Zealand
Naprapol  32' Report Smeltz  53'
Mulligan  90+3'
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Job Minan (Papua New Guinea)
Fiji 3–3 New Caledonia
Nawatu  2'
Vakatalesau  27'  86'		 Report Gjamaci  66'
Kaudre  83'
M. Hmaé  87'
Attendance: 1,500
New Zealand 4–1 Vanuatu
Mulligan  17'  81'
Smeltz  29' (pen.)  34'		 Report Sakama  50'
Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Averii Jacques (Tahiti)
New Caledonia 4–0 Fiji
Wajoka  29' (pen.)
M. Hmaé  32'  61'
Mapou  64'		 Report
Attendance: 1,000
Vanuatu 1–1 New Caledonia
Mermer  77' Report Djamali  73'
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Rakesh Varman (Fiji)
New Caledonia 3–0 Vanuatu
Wajoka  36'
M. Hmaé  60'
Diaike  87'		 Report
Attendance: 2,700
Fiji 2–0 Vanuatu
Kumar  7'
Dunadamu  87'		 Report
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Job Minan (Papua New Guinea)
New Caledonia 1–3 New Zealand
M. Hmaé  55' Report Sigmund  16'
Smeltz  65'  75'
Attendance: 2,589
Referee: Rakesh Varman (Fiji)
Vanuatu 2–1 Fiji
Sakama  59'
Malas  90+2'		 Report Dunadamu  90+3'
Attendance: 1,200
New Zealand 3–0 New Caledonia
Smeltz  49'  76'
Christie  69'		 Report
Attendance: 8,000
New Zealand 0–2 Fiji
Report Krishna  63'  90'
Attendance: 4,500
Referee: Lencie Fred (Vanuatu)

Notes
  1. The New Zealand vs Fiji match was originally scheduled for 13 October 2007, but was postponed by FIFA after Fijian goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau was denied a visa by the New Zealand immigration authorities. The match was first rescheduled to be played in the neutral country of Samoa,[1][2] but subsequently moved again to Fiji.[3]


 2008 OFC Nations Cup Winners 

New Zealand
Fourth title

Goalscorers

There were 39 goals scored in 12 games, for an average of 3.25 goals per game. Players in bold advanced to the next round in qualifying.

8 goals
5 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

References
  1. Media Statement: New Zealand vs Fiji Match, Oceania Football Confederation. Accessed 2009-09-09. Archived 2009-09-11.
  2. FIFA cancels New Zealand-Fiji, FIFA.com
  3. New Zealand to finish World Cup qualifying campaign in Fiji Archived 2008-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, Oceania Football Confederation.
  • RSSSF. Accessed 21 February 2010.
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