Samoa's U-17 team have lost their opening match of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) U-17 Championship 2023, going down 3-0 to host nation Fiji at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva on Thursday night.

A media release issued by the OFC media unit at 10pm on Thursday said Fiji got off to a good start through Prahsant Kumar, which led to a couple of corners that tested Samoa's defences in early part of the game.

But great defensive work by Samoan defender Kingston Vaitusi spurred his side on to get into the game, according to the OFC media release, which saw the Samoan player dispossess Fiji's Vinayak Rao. The Samoan midfield started to provide skipper Pharell Trainor with some ball to work with, and the big striker was a constant threat.

The Samoan midfield started to provide skipper Pharell Trainor with some ball to work with, and the big striker was a constant threat.

The first portion of the match was therefore quite even, with the Samoans growing in confidence, stated the OFC media release. However, the breakthrough came just before the half hour mark, off a Fijian corner. Rao’s kick found William Khan unmarked at the far post, with the Fijian forward neatly heading home to open the scoring.

Ibraheem Afazal then continued to cause headaches for the Samoans, putting in a mesmerising run around the edge of the box and getting a shot off that drew a fine save by goalkeeper Kirk Auvele.

Samoa’s best chance to equalise in the first half came just before the break, when a searching free kick found Trainor open near the goal added the OFC media release, but his shot went wide.

The crucial play came just after the halftime break. Afazel made a good run in after being unmarked on the sideline, then tried to curl a shot past Auvele. Prashant Kumar was on hand to finish off and double the lead, the goal seemed very much a turning point as the Fijians started playing with a lot more authority in midfield.

Vilikesa Vosagaga almost made it three moments later, but his shot flew over the bar from a handy position. But around 10 minutes afterwards they got the game sealing score, after referee Calvin Berg awarded them a penalty after Kumar was cut down very close to the edge of the box.

Rao stepped up and slammed home the spot kick to make it a bridge too far for the Samoans.

The rest of the match was a good bit of game management by the Fijians, whose defence were happy to absorb the Samoan attempts to peg back a goal. It wasn’t without cost, however, as the impressive Afazel limped off with 10 minutes to go= but despite that, he was awarded player of the match.

The win puts Fiji top of Group A, both Fiji and Samoa face Tonga in their next games. It will be a big fixture for the Samoans, despite the loss they showed a lot of promise in this match from the likes of Trainor and fellow forward Alex Malauulu. Fiji get a six day break before their next match.

Fiji's goal scorers were William Khan (28 min), Prashant Kumar (49 min), and Vinayak Rao's (60 min) penalty. 

Samoa's next Group A match is against Tonga which is scheduled for Sunday 15 January 2023 at 4pm (Fiji time).