When Tahiti played Spain
In the grand history of David vs Goliath-esque fixtures there is perhaps none that come close to a bunch of amateurs against a Spain side that had won the 2010 World cup sandwiched by successive European Championships. Whilst that glorious Spanish team were regarded as one of the greatest national sides of all time, revolutionising world football in the process it was Tahiti’s sole appearance at a global international tournament.
The Confederation Cup pitted the six victors of each continental championship (Euros, Gold Cup, Copa America etc…) against one another. Tahiti would eventually join the likes of Nigeria, Uruguay and the aforementioned Spain, but first they had to pull off a miracle in winning the OFC Nations Cup.
The history of the OFC Nations Cup has been sporadic at best but since the inaugural Confederations Cup was held in 1996 it has mirrored its 2- or 4-year cycle. The Nations Cup is essentially nothing more than a pre-qualifying tournament for the Confederations Cup.
Historically there have been just two countries in Oceania that dominate, Australia and New Zealand (winning 4 and 5 tournaments respectively), in fact no other national team had ever won the cup before Tahiti’s run in 2012. In 2006, Australia abandoned the OFC in favour of the improved “competitiveness” of Asian football, effectively making New Zealand the regional powerhouse surrounded by Polynesian islands.
2012 OFC Nations Cup
Tahiti had come close before, coming runners up in the first three tournaments but the 2012 edition would see them turn out eventual champions.
Tahiti opened the group stage with a resounding 10–1 victory over Samoa, following that up with a surprise 4–3 win over New Caledonia. Two days later Tahiti, then went onto beat Vanuatu 4–1, finishing top of the group.
Meanwhile tournament favourites, New Zealand had also topped their group but a 1–1 draw against the Solomon Islands perhaps suggested some fragility in the squad.
Both countries progressed into the semi-finals along different paths of the tournament tree. Tahiti managed to scrape past the aforementioned Solomon Islands with a tense 1–0 game. However perhaps the biggest shock of the tournament happened on the other side of the bracket as New Caledonia defeated New Zealand two goals to nil.
That was a New Zealand squad that featured a young Chris Wood and had come back from the World Cup group stages just two years prior. Meanwhile, New Caledonia had only 3 professional players all playing in the French lower leagues. The result would signify the beginning of the end for coach Ricki Herbert, who after leading them to a World Cup had failed to build upon that success and resigned following a disappointing 2014 qualification campaign that ended in a 9–3 aggregate loss to Mexico.
Into the final of the OFC Nations Cup Tahiti, running out eventual 1–0 winners although in truth they were the better side throughout and had another goal wrongly disallowed for handball. During the full-time interview coach, Eddy Etaeta was in tears, delirious at the prospect of travelling to Brazil for the Confederations Cup the following year.
“I took this job ten years ago. And today, I don’t believe it. Going to Brazil, to play against 8 of the best…ah, it’s magnificent.” Eddy Etaeta (Tahiti Coach)
2013 Confederations Cup
A year after their unlikely triumph in Honiara, Tahiti flew over to Brazil. After they were drawn against African Cup of Nations winners, Nigeria, Copa America champions Uruguay and World champions Spain in the group stages, even the most optimistic or perhaps delusional Tahitian could sense danger ahead.
However, in their opening match Tahiti managed to score three times against Nigeria, unfortunately, two of said goals were own-goals and they ended up on the wrong side of a 6–1 defeat.
A few days later the Polynesians would head to a packed-out Maracanã to face a star-studded Spanish side keen to build upon their generational success. In the pre-match niceties Spain handed over the traditional banner whilst the Tahitians adorned their opponents with sea shell necklaces — a humble and cultural touch that seemed to at least warm the hearts of the Spanish team.
Five minutes after kick off the inevitable happened as Fernando Torres passed the ball into the near post catching goalkeeper, Roche, flat footed and expecting a far post finesse. Despite the early goal Tahiti managed to hold back the Spanish for another 30 minutes, utilising a high defensive line to catch Spanish attackers repeatedly offside. Eventually the quality of midfielders like Mata, David Silva and Santi Cazorla proved too much and the opposition began finding space in behind, through deeper runs that weren’t tracked. Fernando Torres would get on the end of one of these passes before rounding the keeper outside of the penalty box and slotting home, subsequently scoring another two in the second half.
In this history of cup mismatches, it’s rare that the smaller reputation side doesn’t adopt a more pragmatic approach; sitting in a low block, looking to disrupt the flow of the game and playing on the counter or for set pieces. Tahiti’s high line aimed to compress the playable area and to some extent it worked for a while but they perhaps lacked the playing quality to press the Spanish or a sweeper keeper that could mop up those pin point line breaking passes that Torres or David Villa ended up latching onto.
After 90 minutes the World champions had beaten Tahiti by ten goals to nil. Fernando Torres and David Villa would go over to console the downtrodden Roche, whilst the Maracanã cheered for Tahiti and applause echoed around the arena at full time. Despite their trouncing, Tahiti had won the sympathy of the home crowd and were praised by opposition coach Vicente Del Bosque for their “fair play”.
In their last match Tahiti would lose 8–0 to Uruguay and head back home whilst Spain would progress to the final before defeat at the hands of tournament hosts Brazil.
In the decade since Tahiti were crowned OFC champions, they’re yet to live up to those heights. Whilst the last Nations cup was curtailed due to Covid, their previous 2016 tournament saw them fail to escape the group stages. Whilst that cup win and subsequent tournament in Brazil may forever remain the country’s peak there’s no shame in a bunch of amateurs achieving what they did.
