Vodafone Fiji Futsal coach Intiaz Khan has commended the efforts of his goal keeper Uliasi Tamanisau at the OFC Championships underway in Suva.

Tamanisau injured himself in the match against Vanuatu on Tuesday but forced himself to play against Tahiti and made numerous saves although his side went down 9-1.

Khan says they had to force Tamanisau to come out late in the second half as they didn’t want to take any risks.

“He was injured and he is forcing himself. I have been telling him not to force yourself. If you’re injured then rest but he said no and he is playing for the nation. He has national pride and he wanted to be there but in the end I had to force him and we did power play.”

This was Fiji’s third loss in the tournament after going down to New Caledonia 5-1 and Vanuatu 5-2 earlier on.

In other results from last night, Solomon Islands defeated New Zealand 4-1 in an entertaining match while Vanuatu beat New Caledonia 6-3.

There’s a rest day today as tournament resumes tomorrow with Tahiti playing New Caledonia at 3pm, Solomon Islands takes on Vanuatu at 5.30pm while Fiji plays New Zealand at 8pm.