Apia, Samoa \u2013 08 February 2024:<\/strong> Samoa\u2019s Women National Football team beat Vanuatu 1-0 to remain in the Olympic Football Tournament – Oceania Qualifier currently played at the Football fields, Tuana\u2019imato.<\/p>\nIt was a competitive and physical game and both teams gave their best but then Vanuatu made a mistake that earned Samoa a chance for a penalty kick.<\/p>\n
There were a few seconds left of the full game and Leah Manuleleua kicked Samoa\u2019s winning goal to the crowd and supporters cheering.<\/p>\n
Samoan player Sasjah Vikolia Dade described the game as a battle of strength and mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like a big battle and very physical and we had a lot of opportunities we could have put away early, but Vanuatu played very fast and physically,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Samoa\u2019s head coach Juan Chang Urrea said every game is important and it’s important to start with a win especially on home ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could have been anyone\u2019s game and we had so many missed chances but then Vanuatu is a strong team,\u201d said Urrea.<\/p>\n
Asked about their game against current champion New Zealand on Saturday, he said the focus is on recovery now without overthinking about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand these games are common but for us it’s about taking one day at a time, we understand they are the champions but we are not focussing on that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Football or soccer is Vanuatu\u2019s national sport and Vanuatu\u2019s captain Elma Aiviji said luck was on Samoa\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did our best and it was a physical game but luck was on Samoa\u2019s side,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Vanuatu has to win the next game against Tonga to stay in the competition.<\/p>\n
There are 8 countries competing in four pools and only one will have a chance to compete in the Olympics. The tournament continues today.<\/p>\n
The teams<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- New Zealand<\/li>\n
- Papua New Guinea<\/li>\n
- Fiji<\/li>\n
- Vanuatu<\/li>\n
- American Samoa<\/li>\n
- Tonga<\/li>\n
- Samoa<\/li>\n
- Solomon Islands<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lagi Keresoma\/ Apia, Samoa \u2013 08 February 2024: Samoa\u2019s Women National Football team beat Vanuatu 1-0 to remain in the Olympic Football Tournament – Oceania Qualifier currently played at the Football fields, Tuana\u2019imato. It was a competitive and physical game and both teams gave their best but then Vanuatu made a mistake that earned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,3474,3475],"class_list":["post-21446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-featured","tag-olympic-football-tournament-oceania-qualifier","tag-samoa-wins-first-game"],"yoast_head":"\n
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