In a first International friendly between Vanuatu and a Baltic State played in Port Vila Stadium, the host country fell to Estonia by a 1-0, thanks to 30 minute strike by Henri Anier.
In front of over 1,000 football fans Coach Etiene Mermer fielded a strong first 11 that include the call up of veteran shot-stopper, Chikau Mansale, defenders Jason Thomas and Gordshem SahtJen, while Jacky Ruben were assisted by the national Under 20 captain Bong Kalo and John Alick to marshal the midfield. Tony Kaltak regained his spot alongside Alex Saniely as strikers for the home side.
The Europeans who were 84th in the FIFA World ranking, started strongly, however the home side came close to finding the net on the 28th minute when a Leo Moli re-bound off a corner sailed straight into Igonen Matvei, Estonian goalkeeper. The local outfit was awarded a couple of free kicks as a result of harsh challenges by the Europeans outside the 25 metre line but, on all occasions the final attempts by Bong Kalo failed to find the target.
During the opening minutes, Vanuatu had opted to send long balls into Estonia’s penalty box but given the average height of the Estonians, the Europeans often won the aerial battle over the ball. Estonia on the other hand, was building up play and linking up with the wings to cross into the Penalty box for its strikers to bounce on.
The system paid off on 30 minutes when Estonian midfielder, Miller Martin, drew two Vanuatu defenders towards the left corner flag before curling a cross into the box for an unmarked Prosa Albert, whose initial shot was stopped by Keeper Mansale, before re-collecting the ball to slot into an open net to open the account for the visitors.
Estonia led 1-0 at halftime and continued with its dominance in the second half despite some good build-ups and attacking play by the local lads as they look to find the equalizer.
Estonia Coach Martin Reim introduced Henri Anier in the second spell in place of Prosa Albert and the change nearly paid off on 68 minutes when he beat the local defenders and was one-on-one with the Vanuatu Keeper but watched in dismay as his shot was saved by Chikau Mansale.
In response, Jacky Ruben and Bong Kalo combined to put passes inside the Estonian penalty box and came close to finding that elusive equalizer, however their final attempt was save by the Estonian goalie.
The equaliser never came as the match official blew the final whistle to end the game in favour of Estonia by a goal to nil.
This is what an elated winning Coach Reim had to say at the end of the game: “The game was played in high temperature but we were fortunate to find the net for the single goal.
“Vanuatu is an offensive team and based on the chances they created, they should have capitalized to score goals.”
Vanuatu Coach Etiene Mermer was happy with his boys’ performance.
“While Estonian players are young and physically strong, I admired courage and the way our boys played with a strong mentality,” he said.
“They made sure they maintained that strong game right up to the 90 minutes. With the support from players like Bong Kalo who has just returned from Europe, and John Alick from Solomons, the boys performed very well in today’s match.”
Estonia will play New Caledonia in another friendly match on November 26 in Noumea before returning to Europe, while Vanuatu will shift their focus to the Mini Games, with football matches starting on December 2.