Brazil edged South Africa 1-0 in a very tight semi-final thanks to Daniel Alves's brilliant late free-kick. The Barcelona wing-back only entered the fray in the latter stages, but his 88th-minute rocket finally undid goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune.

The game kicked off to the sound of vuvuzelas reverberating around the stadium, and within seconds, so too was the roar of 'Booooooth' as South Africa's towering defender got his first touch. Teko Modise drew gasps from his adoring supporters in the fourth minute by bursting past two opponents before Lucio aborted the attack, and Felipe Melo did brilliantly to dispossess Steven Pienaar after the Everton playmaker had wriggled away from two markers down the left.

South Africa had begun brightly, but it was Brazil who created the first opportunity on 14 minutes. Maicon galloped down the right flank and neatly cut the ball back for Luis Fabiano, on the edge of the area. The Sevilla striker squared the ball for Ramires, whose left-foot shot was gathered by goalkeeper Khune.

Bafana Bafana instantly responded with an opportunity of their own. Siboniso Gaxa won the ball inside the opposition half, raced forward and unleashed a piercing, 30-yard drive that went narrowly wide of Julio Cesar's right post. Aaron Mokoena came even closer to breaking the deadlock on 21 minutes, heading a pinpoint Modise free-kick inches over when unmarked.

Another set-piece, this time a direct shot on goal from Tsepo Masilela, was tipped over by Julio Cesar on 27 minutes. Kaka then sprung to life, collecting the ball in midfield, accelerating past two adversaries and feeding Ramires, who, well placed inside the South Africa box, failed to control the ball. Ten minutes before half-time, Andre Santos employed fine technique to test Khune, who was nonetheless equal to his long-range attempt.

Kaka was next to try his luck. The Brazil No10 raced inside from the left and curled a trademark effort just wide of the post, and the same player forced a save out of Khune, following another charge into opposition territory, with the half running out. There was still time for Pienaar to shoot narrowly wide from 25 yards and to block a fierce Andre Santos free-kick, before the referee's whistle brought an entertaining, albeit goalless, half to a close.

Brazil swiftly assumed the initiative upon resumption of the second half. First, Kaka sprinted down the left touchline, before darting inside and winning a corner, which came to nothing. Then, Maicon played a one-two with Luis Fabiano and crossed for Kaka, who headed over but had been penalised for a foul anyway.

The pendulum then swung in the favour of Joel Santana's side. Pienaar's on-target shot was blocked by Luisao, before a Modise shot took a wicked deflection off the aforementioned defender and forced Julio Cesar to dive to his left and tip the ball round his upright. This spell of pressure prompted vociferous shouts from the South African faithful.

Luis Fabiano and Robinho then wasted half-chances inside the Bafana Bafana box, but it was the underdogs who were doing the majority of the pressing. And when Masilela cruised past two Brazilians down the left wing, his ensuing cross was just inches too high for the leaping Bernard Parker.

In the end the Brazilians needed a set piece to seal the deal and book a place in the final against the United States, who they beat 3-0 in the first round. After a foul on the edge of the area by Mokoena, substitute Daniel Alves curled his shot home with his right boot to end the Africans' brave fight.

Story courtesy of FIFA Media

The man known to his friends and foes as the ‘Mau’ movement has orchestrated team Utulei Youth’s rise from fourth position to champions of the Football Federation of American Samoa 2009 Men’s Outdoor 5-aside Competition.

Penaia Kaleopa, nicknamed Mau, helped guide Utulei Youth to title success by upsetting top-ranked FC SKBC 4-3 in their semi-final match and then whitewashing the second ranked team Jets 1 3-0 in the final match on Saturday at Pago Park Soccer Stadium.

Kaleopa, awarded the Most Valuable Player at the end of the competition, scored the match-winner against SKBC and then broke the scoreless tie in the title match to shoot-down the Jets’ hopes.

As player-coach, and also coach of the women’s team that finished second to Black Roses, Kaleopa – also MVP of the Business House Tournament held in March of this year – chose to sit out the start of the game to gauge the tempo and thus set up a strategy for his players and also himself.

As the oldest player on the field he lacked the pace of his younger opponents but made up for this with a canny knack for being in the right time at the right place.

The final lacked the intensity the fans had hoped for, mainly due to Jets 1 employing a conservative strategy that saw them maintain possession amongst their backs for prolonged periods. It was anticlimactic compared to the very exciting semifinals played earlier between Jets 1 and Black Roses in one match and SKBC and Utulei Youth.

About five minutes into the second half Utulei’s Pesamino Victor struck a powerful shot from midfield that forced an awkward save from the Jets 1’s goalie. The ball was deflected off of the keeper’s body into the path of an unmarked Kaleopa who scored with ease. 

The ‘Mau’ goal appeared to break resolve of Jets 1 players as frustration settled into their play. Conversely Utulei Youth played with renewed determination that produced a brace of goals to JP Fa’avae, the MVP for the recent Boy’s High School Junior Varsity competition.

SEMIFINAL ONE: UTULEI YOUTH 4, FC SKBC 3

Again, it was a rebound on a blocked shot attempt that enabled Kaleopa to score the game-winning goal.

A diving William Kali of SKBC stopped Aleki Savea’s shot at goal, injuring himself in the process. The ball bounced off of Kali and straight to an unmarked and wide-open Kaleopa who lightly tapped in the winner for his second goal of the game.

When these two teams met during the round robin competition, SKBC dominated Utulei 6-1. However, Kaleopa was unavailable when these two played.

However, Kaleopa was able to make amends in the semi-final when he helped lead his team to victory with a brace after SKBC had leapt out to a 2-0 lead. Savea scored to peg one back for Utulei and Kaleopa added his first score to level the score 2-2 at the half.

Jin Lee and Gun Chul Kang were the first half scorers for SKBC and Kang again struck in the second stanza for a 3-2 scoreline before Victor again brought Utulei level before Kaleopa’s late game winner.

SEMIFINAL TWO: JETS I 4, BLACK ROSES 3 (OT)

Jets 1 completed a memorable come-back from 0-3 down in normal time to beat Black Roses deep into the second half of extra time. Harry of Jets 1 completed their comeback win by shooting past a diving goalie after being played into space via a great pass from captain Mafutaga Solofa with just 45 seconds left on the overtime clock.

Solofa was the key to his side’s come-back, holding his team together despite the three goals scored against them in the first half of normal time.

Dion Ott led Black Roses in that fast start with a brace while Alapati Sula contributed the third goal.

Solofa started his team’s fight back with the first goal and Sam Taulealo chipped in with the second.

The Jet’s captain continued to lead by example by providing the equalizer with less than a minute to play before again stepping up to lay-on the decisive last minute score.

Courtesy of FFAS Media

USA caused another sensation at the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009, beating European champions Spain 2-0 to book a place in their first-ever world final. The Spaniards controlled possession at Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium, but the USA, losers of their first two games here in South Africa, played a brave and spirited 90 minutes in freezing temperatures, pulling off a historic victory with goals in each half from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey.

Bob Bradley's side made a lively start to proceedings, surging into attack early against their illustrious adversaries. Young Charlie Davies, rewarded with a second straight start by the coach in attack, was causing havoc at the Spanish back. His audacious overhead volley nearly caught out Iker Casillas before bouncing wide in the seventh minute. Carlos Bocanegra, back in the team and wearing the captain's armband for the first time at these finals, went close shortly after with his head and Dempsey tried his luck from distance.

After a slow start, though, the European champions began to assert themselves and take control of possession, Barcelona creator Xavi leading the way. Cesc Fabregas saw his shot in the 12th minute fly over the bar, while Fernando Torres and David Villa both went close to opening the scoring.

Despite Spain's superior technique and pedigree, the ambitious, almost insolent, North Americans stole in and took the lead. After a lovely bit of interplay between Dempsey and Davies, Altidore shook off his former Villarreal team-mate Joan Capdevila to meet a fine through ball and slam home from 18 yards. Casillas got a palm to it, but the Real Madrid goalkeeper simply could not deal with the power in the strike.

The Spaniards continued to dictate the pattern as the half wore on. As the men in red chased their equaliser, Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was again denied, this time by a fine kick-save from Tim Howard with just seconds to go in the half.

Spain emerged from the changing rooms with renewed vigour, Villa turned brilliantly in the box after five minutes but Howard again was equal to the effort.

A bit of desperation looked to be creeping into the Spanish attack near the hour-mark. Villa, Torres and the ever-present Xavi were trying to force their way through an increasingly cohesive US rearguard, marshalled by giant centre-back Oguchi Onyewu. Last-ditch tackles and heroic blocks were coming to define the American resistance. Sergio Ramos slammed off the post in the 64th minute as Spain's pressure was beginning to look irresistible. Bradley brought on midfielder Benny Feilhaber for striker Davies, hoping to shore things up with a little under half an hour to go.

Against the run of play, though, it was the Americans, not the Spaniards, who got the crucial goal. Clint Dempsey, fresh off scoring the third goal in the win over Egypt that saw the US through to this semi-final, took advantage of a rare error by Ramos to poke home an opportunistic goal from close range. The celebrations that followed were in perfect accord with the historic nature of the goal, and the eventual 2-0 victory over the reigning European champions and the world's No1ranked team.

The States will now play in their first-ever final at a major international competition, taking on the winner of tomorrow's semi-final between hosts South Africa and runaway favourites Brazil. However, they will line up in the ultimate match without holding midfielder Michael Bradley who was sent off with three minutes remaining for a two-footed lunge.

Story courtesy of FIFA Media

Even the inclement weather couldn’t dampen the spirit of football at the Soccer center in ‘Atele, as Round 9 of Tonga major league took place on Saturday.

Division One played its final round while the Premier, Second and U-15 divisions played their penultimate rounds. The Women’s division was also in action (5 rounds from completion) rounding out an action-packed day of club football.

Premier Division

After toppling Lotohaapai FC as premier division leaders in draw 8, Marist FC received their first disappointment of the season, going down 1-3 to Ngeleia FC who had dropped dramatically to the bottom of their division table recently.

Ngeleia’s thrashing of Marist came in a spectacular match in front of a few club faithful who defied chilly conditions to support their teams. Sione Tovo’s blistering shot at goal, 6 minutes into the game, gave Ngeleia an early boost of confidence and some control of the game. Despite having a messy first half, Marist midfielder Neo Fe’ao puts his team back into the game after 18 minutes with a goal taking the score to 1-1 at halftime.

Hungry for a better result coach Kilifi Uele took to the field in the second half and improved Ngeleia’s attacking fluency. His involvement paid off at 44 and 50 minute marks with goals to Sione Tovo and Kilifi Uele respectively. Marist’s attack was then unable to break Ngeleia’s defense in the remaining 20 minutes of the match as the clock ran down. 

Ngeleia’s much improved performance has secured them the third spot on the table while, despite the loss, Marist retain their position at the top of the premier division.

First Division

Meanwhile, first division leader, Longoteme FC drew 0-0 with Ha’amoko United in a very tightly contested match. The goalless draw left table standings unchanged as division 1 approaches its finale with only one match remaining next week between Vaolongolongo and Ha’amoko.

Longoteme needs a better performance to make it into premier division next year, as they await draw 10 results to confirm which premier club they’ll meet in a promotion/relegation play-off.

In the opening match of the women’s division Seketi Fatai grabbed a triple for Nukualofa 11, who took to the field with only 8 players. Sela Vaenuku scored the winner in the 70th minute of the match after ‘Ahau FC tried to stay in touch through Ilaise Faluku’s goal.

But it was the second women’s game between Marist and Kaimai Girls that proved to be the glamour match of the day with both teams contesting a feisty battle. Forward, Heilala Loto’aniu opened the scoring for Marist after 10 minute before Kaimia’s Vaisioa Niukapu equalized in the 20th minute of the game.

ENDS.

With two weeks to go until the OFC Futsal Championship Fiji 2009, defending champions Solomon Islands have stepped up preparations in their bid to secure back-to-back victories at the prestigious event.

The round-robin competition involving Fiji, New Caledonia, the Kurukuru from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, is set to take place from 6-10 July at the Vodafone Arena in Suva, Fiji.

Solomon Islands will go into the championship as hot favourites with 11 of their 12 squad members being part of the 2008 winning team that went on to represent Oceania at the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Brazil last year.

Recently appointed head coach Dickson Kadau says his players have undergone intensive training in recent weeks.
 
“We train six days a week and the focus areas in our sessions are mainly on speed, strength and the team’s defense,” said Kadau.
 
The Kurukuru side has also received a huge boost from Scott Gilligan, ‘Win in Oceania’ Project Manager for Futsal, who has spent time in the Solomon Islands this month working closely with the team.
 
“The boys have improved a lot from where they were during the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Brazil,” said the former Australian futsal international who has also coached the Australia national men’s side.
 
“When I came to Honiara early this year for a futsal coaching course under the ‘Win in Oceania’ development programme, I left a training plan with them and what I’ve seen is incredible progress.”
 
The OFC Futsal Championship Fiji 2009 marks the sixth time Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has staged the event.  Since its inception in 1992, the championships have been held every four years as part of the qualification process for the FIFA Futsal World Cup tournaments.

Fiji 2009 marks the first year of the new annual format for the championship which shows OFC’s commitment to developing futsal by providing regular competition for Oceania’s top teams.

The popularity of futsal – an indoor form of football played with five players per side and a weighted ball – continues to grow throughout the region as a number of OFC’s eleven member associations start to develop domestic competitions to support the game.

EXTRA INFORMATION:

OFC Futsal Championship Fiji 2009 – Official Teams Lists

FIJI

1. Asmat BEGG
2. Mira SAHIB
3. Sandeep NAIR
4. Dinesh Chand MUDALIAR
5. Shivam NATHAN
6. Mohammed SHALMEEN
7. Joseph MISHRA
8. Aisea Dauivalu CODRO
9. Kamal HASSAN
10. Uraia Raimulo LOKI
11. Osea VAKATALESAU
12. Simione Moce TAMANISAU  

Coach: Imtiaz KHAN
Assistant Coach: Melvin ANAND

NEW CALEDONIA

1. Ronan EUZEN (GK)
2. Jerry IARUEL
3. Adrien GUILLAMO
4. Louis WAISHITINE
5. Anderson PAULIN
6. Cédrick HUMUNI
7. Rodrigue Poiwi
8. Ismaël TCHOVAMILI
9. Christophe WHOAP
10. Loïc CAUNES
11. Ivann POUROUORO
16. Arnaud LLAMBRICH (GK)

Coach: Eric MICHALAK
Assistant Coach: Alexandre WEMA

SOLOMON ISLANDS

1. Alick LIOKA (GK)
2. Philip HOUTARAU
3. Elliot RAGOMO
4. Paul HUIA
5. Jenan KAPU
6. Moffat SIKWA'AE
7. James EGETA
8. Francis LAFAI
9. Micah  LEA'ALAFA
10. Stanley PUAIRANA (GK)
11. Ron GINIO
12. Jack WETNEY
Coach: Dickson KADAU
Assistant Coach: Jerry SAM

VANUATU

1. Daniel MANSALE (GK)
2. Reynold ABEL
3. Don MANSALE
4. Marco Andre Junior HERROMINLY
5. Lui SIFAS
6. Terry QUARE
7. Ben HUNGAI
8. Louis DOMINIQUE
9. Junior MALAS
10. Vira  Jack ALA
11. Ben EDWARD
23. Pascal PALA (GK)

Coach: Marco HERROMINLY
Assistant Coach: Marcellino BARTHELEMY

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Priscilla Duncan
Oceania Football Confederation
Media & Communications
T: +649 526 5651   
F: +649 525 8164
M:+64 (0)21 884 018   
E: priscilla@oceaniafootball.com

Joel Tiller
Oceania Football Confederation
Media & Communications
T: +649 526 5654
F: +649 525 8164
M:+64 (0)21 994 520
E: joel@oceaniafootball.com

Brazil produced a stunning first-half display en route to a 3-0 defeat of Italy that thrust them into the semi-finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup and eliminated the reigning world champions.

Meanwhile USA managed to pull off mission improbable and book a place in the semi-finals with a 3-0 win over Egypt in the other Group B Match.

A Luis Fabiano double put Brazil in firm command over the world chapions before an Andrea Dossena own goal completed the scoring on the stroke of the interval. Brazil will now take on South Africa in the second semi-final in Johannesburg on Thursday. USA will face Group A winners Spain in Mangaung/Bloemfontein one day earlier.

For USA, Charlie Davies, Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey all got on the scoresheet to book an unlikely last-four place.

Egypt looked in the mood to roll over the previously winless Americans at the start, hitting out with the keener verve and asking all the early questions. 

But the Americans were unfazed and marched right up the other end to open the scoring. The goal came well against the run of play in the 21st minute. Davies, brought on by coach Bob Bradley, snuck in to take advantage of an uncommon fumble by goalkeeper Essam El Hadary - Egypt's hero of their win over Italy - to poke home from close range.

Star striker Landen Donovan had said before the match "Soccer is a funny game, anything can happen." How right he was. 

FIFA Confederation's Cup
Sunday 21 June

Group B - Results

Brazil: 3
Italy: 0

Egypt: 0
USA: 3

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – The All Whites’ historic first-ever FIFA Confederations Cup point from a goalless draw with Asian champions Iraq on Monday morning (NZT) has given their World Cup playoff hopes a timely boost.

New Zealand, who face either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia over two legs in October and November for a place at the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010, proved they can compete with the best of Asia and have a genuine chance of returning to the Republic to make just their second World Cup.

“I think tonight was another milestone for the country,” said All Whites coach Ricki Herbert, “I think we proved a few doubters wrong.”

“The team were magnificent tonight. We’ve never come to a FIFA tournament and got a point, we’ve never come to a FIFA tournament and dictated a game and at halftime we were disappointed not to be two or three up given the chances that we had.

“It was a decent performance that will hopefully see the country get right in behind this side for the World Cup playoff. To come away with a nil-nil against a quality side is an important message to send back.”

The result was also a boon for New Zealand’s South African hosts as Iraq were chasing victory to pip Bafana Bafana to a place the semi finals.

The first piece of the semi final puzzle fell into place for Iraq with Spain beating South Africa 2-0 in Bloemfontein to equal Brazil’s record of 35 matches without defeat and set a new record of 15 consecutive wins.

But the All Whites barely let the Asian champions into the match, apart from a testing final ten minutes when New Zealand’s player of the tournament Glen Moss pulled off two crucial saves – one in full flight and the other with his head – to prevent what would have been an unjust defeat.

Aside from an early scare in which Moss denied Younis Mohammed one-on-one, New Zealand dominated the first half but lacked the finishing touches to convert numerous chances.

Glasgow Celtic striker Chris Killen put New Zealand’s first opportunity wide and then Ben Sigmund, Shane Smeltz and Killen all missed the target with headers while another Killen effort forced a sharp save from Mohammed Kassid.

New Zealand’s best chance to claim all three points fell to Smeltz with just minutes remaining, but the Gold Coast forward couldn’t quite control Killen’s delicate chip over the defence with just the keeper to beat.

New Zealand harried, pressed and at times bullied the Asian champions who retreated to their shells and allowed the All Whites to play.

Sigmund, in his first game since hip surgery, added some much needed aggression to the team and ran himself into the ground for 72 minutes until being substituted, while a confident and positive Leo Bertos posed a constant threat down the left flank.

A largely local Ellis Park crowd was always behind a New Zealand side that had South Africa’s hopes in its hands, and lifted in fervour and volume as the All Whites defended in numbers to keep out Iraq in a tense final few minutes.

Next up for the All Whites is securing Middle Eastern opposition to fill the September international window, the side’s last chance to prepare for a crucial away leg of the World Cup playoff in either Manama or Riyadh on October 10.

FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009
Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Saturday 20 June

Group A

New Zealand: 0
Iraq: 0
Halftime: 0-0

New Zealand: 12-Glen MOSS (GK), 2-Aaron SCOTT (17-David MULLIGAN 83), 3-Tony LOCHHEAD, 5-Ben SIGMUND (18-Andrew BOYENS 72), 6-Ivan VICELICH, 7-Simon ELLIOTT, 8-Tim BROWN (Captain), 9-Shane SMELTZ, 10-Chris KILLEN, 11-Leo BERTOS, 15-Jeremy BROCKIE (14-Jeremy CHRISTIE 68).
Substitutes not used: 1-Mark PASTON (RGK), 4-Duncan OUGHTON, 13-Andy BARRON, 16-Chris JAMES, 19-Steven OLD, 20-Chris WOOD, 21-Kris BRIGHT, 22-Jarrod SMITH, 23-James BANNATYNE (RGK).
Coach: Ricki HERBERT

Cautions: Tim Brown 36, Jeremy BROCKIE 61

Iraq: 12-MOHAMMED KASSID (GK), 2-MOHAMMED ALI KAREEM, 3-BASEM ABBAS, 5-NASHAT AKRAM, 7-EMAD MOHAMMED (17-ALAA ABDUL ZAHRA 56), 10-YOUNIS MAHMOUD, 11-HAWAR MULLA MOHAMMED (4-FAREED MAJEED 46), 13-KARRAR JASIM, 14-SALAM SHAKER, 15-ALI HUSSEIN REHEMA, 18-MAHDI KAREEM (6-SALIH SADIR 67).
Substitutes not used: 1-NOOR SABRI  (RGK), 8-LUAY SALAH, 9-ABDUL WAHHAB ABU AL HAIL, 16-DARA MOHAMMED, 19-ISAM YASEEN, 20-SAMER SAEED, 21-ODAY TALIB (RGK), 22 MUAYAD KHALID, 23 HALKARD MULLA MOHAMMED.
Coach: Bora MILUTINOVIC

Story and photo courtesy of NZF Media