“That’s how football is,” he stated post-match, not knowing at the time that his team would be the one, from the nine competing, to be exiting at this stage of the competition.
The nature of the tournament’s group stage meant it was always going to be a tough exit for one nation, but nobody could have expected quite how intensely it would play out.
Before the start of play in Wednesday’s games, Tahiti v Vanuatu and New Caledonia v Solomon Islands, all four teams involved were in danger of elimination – as were Group A’s Tonga.
