Fijians will be better for the cup experience

Fiji won plenty of admirers as they made their debut appearance at a Fifa World Cup event.

The Fijians were on the wrong end of an 8-1 scoreline against Germany in Christchurch in their opening game of the under-20 World Cup but it was a historic day for the Pacific Island nation.

With New Zealand gaining automatic entry to the tournament as the host nation, Fiji secured their spot after winning last year’s Oceania under-20 championship.

The biggest cheer of the afternoon came early in the second half when Fiji striker Iosefo Verevou scored from a header in the 48th minute. Germany went into halftime 6-0 ahead, but Verevou’s goal seemed to inspire the Fijians, who only conceded a further two goals.

They were able to keep the potent German side at bay for 23 minutes in the second half until substitute Marvin Stefaniak found the back of the net.

Fiji frustrated Germany early on in the first half, with it taking 18 minutes for the European under-19 champions to score.

The floodgates opened up after that, with Germany netting four times during a nine-minute span to build a 4-0 lead. Midfielder Hany Mukhtar, who is on the books at Portuguese club Benfica, scored a hat-trick in the rout. Defender Niklas Stark also scored a double.

Nigeria gave Brazil a run for their money in the first half in New Plymouth, before the South American nation secured a 4-2 win. The Africans held a 2-1 lead after half an hour, but the Brazilians then levelled through Judivan. A 59th minute strike from Gabriel Boschilia put Brazil 3-2 ahead and they made sure of victory when Judivan banged in his second eight minutes from time.

Hungary made an excellent start to their campaign in Group E, overcoming North Korea 5-1 in New Plymouth. Bence Mervo was the star for Hungary, scoring a hattrick in the win.

Honduras also tasted victory in Christchurch, toppling Uzbekistan 4-3. The Central American side made a brilliant start, scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes through skipper Jhow Benavidez and striker Bryan Rochez, who plays for Orlando City SC in Major League Soccer.

Dostonbek Khamdamov gave Uzbekistan hope, replying in the 31st minute, but Honduras went close to wrapping up the three competition points when defender Kevin Alvarez scored early in the second half to make it 3-1.

Uzbekistan set up a frantic finish with Eldor Shomurodov scoring 11 minutes from time.to peg it back to 3-2. But Rochez cemented victory for Honduras with his second in added time, before Uzbekistan added a consolation goal. Korea’s Choe Ju Song scores past Hungary’s goalkeeper Gyorgy Szekely during their Fifa U-20 Football World Cup at Stadium Taranaki inNew Plymouth.