June 4 – When the official draw for September’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Tahiti 2013 is streamed lived tomorrow on FIFA.com, the Pacific islanders will take another significant step in the world of international football, putting hosting credentials alongside a growing list of playing achievements.
Later this month the men’s national team compete in their first major tournament finals at the Confederations Cup in Brazil, opening their campaign against African champions Nigeria in Belo Horizonte.
Tomorrow’s Beach Soccer World Cup draw will be streamed live at 19.30 local time (7.30am CET, Thursday 6 June) and will put the hosts plus the 14 qualified teams, plus a second team from Oceania (still to qualify) into four groups of four.
Tahiti have been developing their international football credentials, especially on sand. Two years ago the Tiki Toa broke the Solomon Islands’ dominance of the beach format in Oceania and qualified for Beach Soccer World Cup Ravenna 2011. They won their first game against Venezuela 5-2 before losing to Nigeria and eventual champions Russia.
Four years ago Tahiti became the first Pacific nation to reach the FIFA U-20 World Cup. But the most significant breakthrough is undoubtedly the men’s senior national team breaking the stranglehold Australia (before they switched confederation to the AFC) and New Zealand have had over four decades on the continent.
Tomorrow’s live draw is the start of the party for Tahiti.
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