DAY one of the 2025 Pacific Cup kicked off yesterday with plenty of excitement and enthusiasm as young footballers set the tone for the week-long competition.
The opening match delivered a strong contest, with the U16 NZFFI All Stars edging out the U16 AUFFI All Stars 2-1 in a closely fought encounter.
NZFFI took the lead through Rylan Kumar in the 21st minute before AUFFI’s Arnav Chand equalised 10 minutes later. The match remained tight until the 58th minute when Ryan Swami found the winner, securing the first three points of the tournament for the New Zealand-based side.
It was an impressive display of youth football, showcasing the skill, determination and rising talent within the Pacific football community as Match Day 1 wrapped up.
Later in the evening, Labasa was silenced by USA All Stars 1-4.
Javier Ramire opened the scoring for the Extra Supermaket-sponsored Labasa side in the 13th minute. Just two minutes later, Marcus Simmons responded for USA All Stars to level the scores at 1-all.
Simmons was a constant threat to Labasa and his efforts paid off as he secured his second goal in the second half.
Matthew Fondy and Shahil Khan also got their names on the scoresheet with a goal each to seal the win and silence the Labasa crowd.
Ba FC faced Northshore All Stars, Lautoka FC played Auckland All Stars and Rewa took on AUFFI All Stars.
