Micronesia didn’t manage to score a single goal in their three thrashings, losing 30-0 to Tahiti in a match which saw seven players score hat-tricks, and 38-0 to Fiji, when left-back Antonio Tuivuna scored ten goals.
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SYDNEY: Hapless Micronesia are struggling to stay positive after being thumped 38-0 by Fiji at the Pacific Games, just days after conceding 30 goals to Tahiti. Like, really bad. You and a couple of your friends may be able to beat them.
The half-time score was 24-0 and Vanuatu, ranked 200 in the world, did not let up after the break in humid conditions in Papua New Guinea, which is hosting the event.
Adding to their woes, the team’s goalkeeper was forced off with injury midway through the match. I took them to Guam the other day [and it was] the first time they have been on an elevator or an escalator.
“They’re boys, not men”, Foster said of his team.
Micronesia’s Australian coach Stan Foster admitted it was boys against men after the Vanuatu debacle and called on Federation Internationale de Football Association to recognise Micronesia.
Vanuatu’s Jean Kaltack set the record for the most goals scored in a match by notching up an impressive 16.
“Most of these guys are from small villages where they don’t play soccer, so they’ve come a long way, they’re not used to a crowd in a big tournament like this against real quality players.”
Journalist Kevin Darling, covering the games in PNG, told Sky Sports: “The problem is it’s not a squad of footballers, it’s just a squad of normal blokes”.
The islands, which use American currency because it is a USA “associated state”, have no organized football and often only get practice matches against teams from visiting ships.
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“I think the best team probably got beaten today, I thought we outplayed them and I think the stats will quite clearly show that”.
