Tahitian football’s best ever moment

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Football can create very emotional moments, memories that will live for eternity. In a sport where the best team does not always win, it is really possible to dream – you can achieve results that are theoretically impossible. That is what the 2012 OFC Nations Cup held in Solomon Islands can teach us: Football is unpredictable – that was the moment of To’a Aito, as the Tahiti national football team is known.

In a group where Tahit faced Vanuatu, Samoa and New Caledonia and won all the matches, including a 10-1 win over Samoa, the team then coached by Eddy Etaeta did not have much to fight to lead the group and advance to the semi-finals. In the decisive match against hosts Solomon Islands at Lawson Tama Stadium, the Tahitians’ story was quite different; they had to stop Benjamin Totori if they wanted to continue in the competition. Much to the chagrin of the local fans, Tahiti did their job well to stop the star player and secure a place in the tournament’s grand final by scoring the winning and only goal in the clash through the legendary Jonathan Tehau.

But the real surprise came in the other semi-final, when New Caledonia played New Zealand. The New Caledonians surprised Oceania and the world by winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Bertrand Kaï and Georges Gope-Fenepej, beating so the strongest team in the region. It was a shocking moment for Oceanian football, because something new was about to happen: Neither New Zealand nor Australia would win the OFC Nations Cup for the first time ever – the grand final between Tahiti and New Caledonia would decide who would reap the glory.

An exciting game in Honiara brought together the two francophone forces of Oceania football; players like Georges Gope-Fenepej, Bertrand Kaï and Jacques Haeko were a real threat to the Tahitians. The Tahitians captained by Nicolas Vallar, could count on the Tehau brothers – Alvin, Jonathan and Lorenzo – and the experience of players like the goalkeeper Xavier Samin.

The 10th minute of play marked the decisive goal of the match, Steevy Chong Hue received the ball in the middle of the penalty area and with a strong finish found the nets guarded by Rocky Nyikeine. Despite New Caledonia’s best efforts, the strong front line could not equalise – Tahiti had themselves the best moment in their footballing history, but there was even more to come.

In 2012, Tahiti conquered Oceania, and the following year they suddenly had the chance to taste the best of football when they represented the OFC at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil. The Tahitians were grouped with then reigning world champions Spain, South American champions Uruguay and African representative Nigeria. Players from clubs like AS Dragon and AS Tefana had the chance to play against players like Luis Suárez, Sergio Ramos and Fernando Torres.

The excitement was great, the Brazilian fans welcomed the Tahitians and gave the Oceania champion their best support. Tahiti prepared for the tournament with a period of trainings and friendlies in Chile and then travelled to Brazil, more precisely to the city of Belo Horizonte, where Tahiti would make their debut at a FIFA tournament against Nigeria. Before the big moment of kick-off, the Tahitians also played a few friendly matches against local clubs.

Nigeria, an experienced team counting on players like John Obi Mikel, did not take long to open the scoring charts with an unfortunate own goal from Nicolas Vallar. The Nigerians kept pushing forward, with Nnamdi Oduamadi scoring through a mistake by goalkeeper Xavier Samin and adding another before half-time. The greatest moment in Tahitian football history was just around the corner. You can watch this goal by clicking here.

After the break, right on 54th minute of play, the only fully professional player of the Tahitian squad, Marama Vahirua, put a corner to the far post – defender Jonathan Tehau went up and headed the ball to Nigeria’s nets to score Tahiti’s first and only goal of the tournament; an unforgettable moment, all the team came together to celebrate the goal by making the move of Va’a, the Tahitian canoe. This is the reason why Jonathan Tehau turned himself into a Tahitian football legend.

The same Jonathan Tehau scored an own goal later in the game, Tahiti lost 6-1, but the most famous goal was certainly the one scored by the francophones. Tehau and his team made history, but they still had two very important games to play against Spain and Uruguay.

In the iconic Maracanã, Spain had no trouble beating Tahiti 10-0. Steevy Chong Hue, the same man who scored against New Caledonia to secure a place in the FIFA Confederations Cup, had a real chance of scoring against the world champions but failed to reach the ball after a good cross from Teaonui Tehau. Tahiti’s best moment in the game was certainly when Fernando Torres lost a penalty sending it over the crossbar. Unfortunately for the Tahitians, that was the biggest goalscoring advance a team has ever had in a FIFA football tournament.

In the final match of Tahiti in Brazil, the South American powerhouse Uruguay also did not have any problems to surpass the defence led by Nicolas Vallar – the 8-0 result reflected the difference of both teams. The FC Barcelona star Luis Suárez came from the bench in the second half to score a brace in favour of his team. At the end of the game, despite the harsh defeat, the Tahitians were the most celebrated by the Brazilian crowd.

Tahiti left the tournament as the team who most conceded goals in the tournament, something that was expected before the start of the competition. The experience these players had in Brazil was crucial for the development of the game back in their home land. Steevy Chong Hue, after FIFA Confederations Cup, earned a possibility of a trial period in French top-tier side FC Lorient; Ranui Aroita, a young member of the Tahitian squad, also had himself a possibility of trials in Brazilian second-tier side América from Minas Gerais.

Tahiti proved to the world that football is more than winning; the possibility to represent your country at the highest level is something any money can pay. The exposure the team had put Tahiti in the map of football, they came to Brazil to represent their country and also Oceania – they did well.

This article is part of the series ‘Brazil and Oceania: a Football connection‘.