Minnows ... Tahiti face the might of Spain in the Confederations Cup. Source: NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP
As unfancied Tahiti came up against Nigeria on Monday at the Confederations Cup, minds were cast back to 2001 and another case of Mission Impossible at the tournament.
It was Socceroo Clayton Zane who provided the story of the Confederations Cup - the underdogs racing away to revel in the joy of an unlikely goal against opponents that appeared to be from a different planet.
That was in 2001 when a strike from Zane gave the unfancied Socceroos a historic win over the reigning World Champions France at the Confederations Cup. On Monday in Brazil the World watched on, hoping for an even more improbable moment. A win looked impossible; a goal was all everyone hoped for.
Most dismissed the prospect of them even getting into a goal scoring position. The former Chelsea star now turned BBC pundit Pat Nevin said they wouldn't get a corner. His fellow pundit John Hartson predicted they would be hard to break down and would sit deep and defend for their lives.
Both assumptions were proved wrong. They started brightly. They were brave. Then what most predicted would happen did - Tahiti conceded a goal after just five minutes.
They weren't torn apart by the African Champions Nigeria. A clearance hit the referee and bounced to a Nigerian attacker whose shot hit two Tahiti defenders and deflected past the keeper. The haplessness was what was expected from a team ranked 135th in the World by FIFA.
The bright start appeared certain to give way to a thrashing. "Of course we will probably lose, but we don't want to lose by too many goals," Henri Thierry Ariiotima, president of the Tahiti FA, said before the tournament.
When Nigeria made it 3-0 after 26 minutes the second part of Ariiotima's hopes looked in danger.
Perhaps even more worrying than the hour remaining in the match was what lay in wait three days later – Spain. But the tiny nation with just 11,000 registered football players and one solitary professional in their entire squad refused to fall apart.
They continued to try to get forward. They proved Nevin wrong in the first half, when the excellent Steevy Chong Hue outpaced Celtic defender Efe Ambrose and won his side a corner. Chong Hue even had a glorious chance to give Tahiti the goal everyone craved when he got on the end of a cross only to badly misdirect his header.
It seemed like their one moment had passed. But then on 54 minutes it arrived. Defender Jonathan Tehau got on the end of a corner and scored. It mattered little to score line. It was still 3-1 and Nigeria would eventually score three more before the ninety minutes was up but Tahiti had their moment.
Their coach, Eddy Etaeta, had feared they "would not give a very good image of Tahitian football". The goal ensured this would not be the case. In truth it was no more than they deserved. They tried bravely to play their way out from the back, even after it resulted in Nigeria scoring their second goal.
Their full-backs got forward and joined the attack when they had the chance. "Tahiti came out to fight like lions," Nigeria's Nnamdi Oduamadi said after the match.
It was refreshing. Fear was not cursing through their performance, when perhaps it had every right to. In a warm-up game just before the Confederations Cup, they got a glimpse of what they were up against when Chile's under 20s beat them 7-0.
"I really hope this defeat will act as a trigger for us and that we will react to this spanking," Etaeta said after the match. He got the reaction he hoped for.
On Friday morning (EST) the spanking they received from Chile is likely to seem a tame one. The team that comprises an auditor, a climber and a delivery man will face what is arguably the best international side the world has seen – Spain.
"It's unbelievable, completely incredible," Etaeta said of facing the European and World Champions.
The wonder is likely to be accompanied by pain, but on the evidence of their performance against Nigeria fears that the Socceroos' world record 31-0 win against American Samoa is under threat are unlikely to be realised.
Their sole professional Marama Vahirua said a goal in any of their group games would "be a victory in the competition." They have had their victory, if they manage to score against Spain it is likely to be Tahiti's and Oceania's sporting triumph of a lifetime.
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