The little team with the big heart will have one more chance to entertain their rapidly growing fan base on Sunday at the Confederations Cup.
Tahiti, a team of mostly amateurs that have been outscored 1-16 in their opening two matches at the World Cup warm-up tournament, will face Uruguay at the Arena Pernambuco in their final Group B match.
Although Tahiti have little to play for after being eliminated following a 10-0 drubbing by Spain on Thursday, Uruguay will be expecting all three points as they try to reach the semi-finals.
Tahiti, however, have won over the Brazilian public and many other football fans around the globe. With only one professional player in the squad, the South Pacific islanders qualified for the Confederations Cup by winning the Oceania Nations Cup.
Against world champions Spain on Thursday, Tahiti went on the attack right from the start and looked good despite the end result. “It’s great to play in an offensive way,” said Tahiti coach Eddie Etaeta. “We may lose again on Sunday against Uruguay, but we’ve touched the hearts of the Brazilian people.”
Etaeta will be ready for the onslaught. “It’s true,” Etaeta said, “that when you qualify and come here you immediately realise that it will be very difficult, almost impossible, to compete with such a high level of teams.”