Two teams face must-win situations on the final day of action at the 2016 OFC Champions League Preliminary, while for competition leaders Kiwi FC a single point from a draw will be enough to guarantee them the title.
The equation for American Samoa champions Utulei Youth FC and host side Tupapa Maraerenga FC in Rarotonga, Cook Islands is simple – they need to win and hope that Kiwi lose to Veitongo FC.
From there it would likely come down to goal difference, with Tupapa holding a one goal advantage over Kiwi despite going down to them 2-1 on Match Day 2.
Tupapa coach Delaney Yaqona says they will try and put the calculations out of their minds and just focus on getting a result against Utulei.
“We can’t control what other teams do and we can’t control the result of the Kiwi game on Saturday, what we need to do is go back and re-think how we approach it,” Yaqona says.
“We have lost our captain due to suspension but the boys have just got to dig deep, score as many goals as we can, get the win and cross our fingers results go our way.”
For their opponents, who secured their first win of the tournament by edging past Veitongo 3-2, the game – which kicks off at 2.30pm local time – will be all about finding a new level.
Scoring goals hasn’t been an issue in either of their games so far, scoring on two and three occasions on Match Day 1 and 2 respectively, but stopping them at the other end has been a big problem.
“Obviously we still have a lot of work to do, but I believe if my boys follow the game plan we have we might come away with something from the game against Tupapa,” coach Ututoa Ino says.
“Tupapa are a really strong team but we expect that here.
“I want everything to improve before we face Tupapa, so hopefully we can achieve some of that.”
The 5pm clash on Match Day 3 will see Kiwi take on Veitongo, who are the only team without a win in the competition so far.
Kiwi FC will be full of confidence after overcoming their biggest challenge to the title by beating Tupapa on Match Day 2, and they have an attack which is firing right now.
They will fancy their chances coming up against the worst defensive team in the competition, but coach Martin Tamasese says there will be no underestimating the Tonga club champions.
“We never underestimate any team, and to us Veitongo are a big threat and a really good side, but we just need to play to our plan,” Tamasese says.
“We celebrated a bit after the Tupapa win but now it’s time to re-focus on Veitongo.”
While Kiwi have it all to play for Veitongo have no chance of winning the competition after suffering losses in their opening two games.
For coach Tuia Falepapalangi the match represents a chance to salvage something from what he admits has been a disappointing tournament for his team.
“We will still be trying hard to make sure we can get a win out of the game against Kiwi,” Falepapalangi says.
“So far we have not been happy with how we have played, so we want to leave with something.
“We have plenty of areas to work on, specifically our defending, because Kiwi are a good team in attack and that is a huge area of concern for us.”