2011 South Pacific Games Football - New Caledonia
The football tournament at the South Pacific Games this coming August will consist of three groups of four teams (although currently only 11 teams are confirmed). The top 3 from two groups and the top 2 from the other will qualify for the Quarter-Final stage. From the Quarter-Finals onwards it’s a straight knockout competition just like the World Cup. The teams that finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd will also qualify for the next round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
We’ll be reviewing every team that will be playing at the Games later this summer and the best place to start would be with 2007’s Gold Medal winners; New Caledonia.
Perhaps the best New Caledonian player is Christian Karembeu, who featured in the Premier League for Middlesbrough and he also has the privilege of counting Real Madrid amongst his former clubs. Although Karembeu was born and raised in New Caledonia, he opted to play for France and was part of the French team that won the 1998 World Cup.
At the last South Pacific Games, held in 2007, New Caledonia won the Gold medal by beating Fiji 1-0.
New Caledonia
 |
| National Flag of New Caledonia |
New Caledonia has been an overseas territory of France since 1946 but in 1998 an agreement was reached that would ultimately give power to the island nation itself rather than being fully under the control of France. New Caledonia is an island off the East Coast of Australia, just over 900 miles North-East of Brisbane.
The football team are currently (21/04/11) ranked 151st in FIFA’s World Rankings which makes them the highest ranked team participating in the upcoming South Pacific Games. It is New Caledonia who are the most successful team ever at the Games, winning it 5 times and having almost always been in the medals (’79 and ’95 being the exceptions) since the Games began in 1963.
Perhaps the best New Caledonian player is Christian Karembeu, who featured in the Premier League for Middlesbrough and he also has the privilege of counting Real Madrid amongst his former clubs. Although Karembeu was born and raised in New Caledonia, he opted to play for France and was part of the French team that won the 1998 World Cup.All the players in the current New Caledonia national team play their club football in New Caledonia itself and although the team that will feature at the South Pacific Games is yet to be announced, they should be one of the strongest teams there.
 |
| Stade Numa-Daly Magenta |
As the games as a whole are being held in New Caledonia, the final of the football tournament will be held at the national stadium; Stade Numa-Daly Magenta. The stadia being used for the football matches have capacities of between 600 and 1,000 so Stade Numa-Daly Magenta’s capacity of 16,000 is huge in comparison.
0 comments:
Post a Comment