Tahiti puts on paddle party to celebrate international goal

Tahiti’s paddling fishermen have been a symbol of the Pacific paradise for decades. Now welcome the paddling players celebrating the most high-profile goal the national football team has ever scored.

Jonathan Tehau’s headed first-half goal for the amateurs of Tahiti was “grandiose”, according to coach Eddy Etaeta. The players certainly thought so, and gathered together in the middle of the pitch to pretend they were paddling a Tahitian fishing boat in a joyful celebration.

The celebration was apparently launched by defender Marama Vahirua, who used it when he played in France. “When Marama scores, he paddles,” said Etaeta. “The paddle has a great significance for us.”

Unfortunately, even paddling couldn’t save the French Polynesian amateurs from a 6-1 hiding from Nigeria in the Confederations Cup in Brazil on Monday.

With Tahiti’s government interrupting its weekly cabinet meeting to watch the game on television, the players from a Pacific island paradise turned a heavy loss into a victory by scoring the rare goal.

The goal generated the biggest cheers of the match at the Mineirao Stadium, where the local Brazilians adopted Tahiti as their team while jeering the Nigerians.

“It’s just huge,” Tehau said. “Already, coming here to Brazil, and then scoring the goal, I’m very happy for me, for my family, my friends and my teammates.”

“My first thoughts are for my family and my parents because they give me the opportunity to play football when I was a kid and today I scored,” he added.

Tahiti, from the South Pacific and 138th in FIFA’s rankings, is used to playing in front of a few hundred players. But thousands were watching in Belo Horizonte and millions more on television.

“We’ve shown the world there’s some real quality in Tahiti,” said Marama Vahirua, the only professional in Tahiti’s team. “Just our presence here is a victory and it was fantastic to be adopted by the Brazilian public.”

Tehau’s elation was short-lived, however. Shortly after scoring, he netted an own-goal.

Nnamdi Oduamadi scored a hat-trick for African champion Nigeria, while Uwa Echiejile added the other two.

Although there was never any threat of anything but a Nigeria victory, Tahiti showed adventure throughout, managing five shots.

“The last 15 minutes were really difficult for us physically because we’ve never experienced such a tough game before,” Tahiti coach Eddy Etaeta said. “I’d like to pay tribute to my players, they were fantastic.”

Etaeta said the cabinet stopped its meeting to watch the game, “along with the rest of Tahiti.”

The crowd of 20,187 chanted “Tahiti” throughout as they watched the team for the first time.

The expectations were that Tahiti would be overawed but it managed to claim the first shot on goal after just two minutes, when defender Vincent Simon struck a low effort.

But a mix-up in the defence allowed Nigeria to go in front three minutes later.

A shot from Echiejile from 20 yards pinged off Alvin Tehau, and took a final deflection off Nicolas Vallar which wrong-footed goalkeeper Xavier Samin as the ball landed in the net.

A misplaced Tahiti pass allowed Nigeria to double its lead in the 10th, with Nnamdi Oduamadi beating two players before scoring.

Oduamadi was on target again in the 26th after Samin spilled Ahmed Musa’s cross.

The Tahitians did regularly get the ball into Nigerian territory, but finishing was weak.

Nigeria appeared to be taking the game too casually, missing a succession of chances.

And at the start of the second half, Nigeria was stunned when Vahirua floated a corner in and Tehau rose above Efe Ambrose and headed in home at back post.

But in the 69th, Tehau turned the ball into his own net from Oduamadi’s cross.

Oduamadi’s hat trick was completed when he turned in the ball from close range from Brown Ideye’s cross and Echiejile slammed in the sixth in the 80th.

AP