Win a blessing, Gunemba says

By ISAAC LIRI
OCEANIA football history has been rewritten and Papua New Guinea can now say they have beaten Tahiti as the Kapuls arrive home today.
In the last 12 meetings between the two sides, the Tahitians have been dominant winning nine, drawing three and losing one.
Incredible as it sounds, as some would say, the sleeping giants of Oceania football have woken.
PNG’s influential striker Raymond Gunemba said the historical victory came from no one else but God.
Expectations were high last week when PNG was hoping to create history at home, unfortunately, that did not come to pass.
The Kapuls had to travel across the Pacific Ocean and pass the international dateline to rewrite history in a foreign land.
Of course, the victory was inspirational, washing away the sore memories of being beaten at home last week.
Gunemba, true to the Christian faith, considers the victory a blessing from above.
“The men are happy for the win but the biggest gratitude of all must go to God.
“Our trip down to Tahiti was a very tiring, to start of with,” he said.
“We did not have enough rest but the team played their hearts out according to the coach’s game plan.
“Most of all, we put our trust and faith in our God, who gave us this victory,” Gunemba said.
The Lae City Dwellers skipper, who plays with Hamilton in New Zealand, said he will be arriving with the rest of the team today to stay with his family for a couple of weeks before heading back to New Zealand.  The next hurdle for PNG is to go against their Melanesian neighbours the Solomon Islands in June which is also considered as a huge task, considering the island nation is a fierce force in football in the region.