Solomon Islands 0-8 Mexico: a performance analysis

Solomon Islands played its last match in U17 World Cup against Mexico. Despite the 8-0 loss there are still some positive things to be said about this game. Oceania Football Center brings another performance analysis just like we did after the match against Paraguay.

As we said in the last performance analysis article, Solomon Islands had three big problems in the first two matches:
1- Through ball behind the full backs;
2- Crossing situations when players look at the ball and forget to look at the opponents;
3- Insisting on short passes in the defense

Solomon Islands really improved at these three issues to face Paraguay, specially in the first half. Derrick Taebo and Stanford Fakasori did a good job defending the Mexican wingers and they did not find too much space to play behind the full backs but they still managed to scored in these situations. Geseni and Ropa also did a competent job helping the full backs defensively.

The first goal of Mexico came from a long pass to the winger behind Taebo’s back:

And then he mastered the ball and crossed to Efraín Alvarez who was completely free between Solomon Islands’ defensive lines. Look at the huge space between the defenders and midfielders:

There were also some problems in the defensive line with through balls between the centre back and the full back and it can be clearly seen in the third goal:

Defensive players also came up to this match more aware of the crossing problems they faced in the other matches so they really had a better performance defending Mexican crosses. But it was not enough to avoid the Mexican goals as you can check it below:

In Mexico sixth goal, the offensive player crosses and no one marks the Mexican player. Goalkeeper Davidson Malam tried to run and avoid the header but he missed the timing and ended failing.

The seventh goal also came from a marking failure in a crossing situation. Mexican forward was free to head the ball but he did not score. The goal happened after a 6-yard box scramble where Solomon Islands’ players did not manage to kick the ball forward.

The U17 still insisted on passsing the ball in the defense field but they were not afraid to kick the ball forward when necessary to avoid bigger problems. Javin Wae and Richie Kwaimamani really helped the team in the midfield so they could have a little more control of the ball but wrong passes in defense were a problem again.

A good example comes from Mexican second goal: After a wrong pass and a terrible defensive mistake, Solomon Islands defender fouled Mexican player. In the free kick the ball was shot directly to the goal and goalkeeper Davidson Malam could not hold it (but he should have caught the ball). His mistake culminated in the second Mexican goal.

The biggest problem against Mexico was the lack of physical preparation. Solomon Islands players were not fit enough to play 90 minutes so they got tired before their opponents. This tiredness led them to make some terrible individual mistakes in the second half, allowing Mexico to score as you can check in the eighth goal. Leon Kofana lost the ball to the opponent and then the Mexican player scored after dribbling the goalkeeper.

Despite the mistakes and the space between the lines, it was their best match offensively. Richie Kwaimamani, Geseni, Lea’i, Ropa and Limoki had the opportunity to run with the ball through Mexican defense and make some shots. The biggest opportunity came in the final minutes with a Leon Kofana shot defended by the Mexican goalkeeper.

They are very young players and they will surely improve. It was also a big experience for coaching staff and they need to be more aware of these situations. Anyway the biggest issue came from physical preparation. SIFF should care more about this if they want to have better results at world level. They should learn from Solomon Islands National Futsal Team that has a great physical preparation.