Imagine your worst day for work and den multiply am by 31. You fit dey close to wetin Nicky Salapu experience on 11 April 2001.
Na di day di American Samoa goalkeeper dey on di losing side. Im no just lose o, im also record di heaviest loss for international football history.
Salapu tell Sporting Witness podcast say strangers still dey approach am to ask about di extraordinary contest.
Na for World Cup qualifier wit Australia na im e happun. Di team wey dem bin use play di match na teenagers full am and na hurry hurry dem use assemble di team.
American Samoa concede 31 goals witout reply, dem no fit score dia opponents at all for di match.
Salapu, wey dey 43 years now, says im bin get to hide im tears from im team-mates for di 31-0 defeat.
“I bin dey try to hide all dat emotion to wait until di game end,” im tok.
Plenti tins dey wey bin dey affect us to get dat kain heavy loss.
First, American Samoa population dat time na only 58,000, compared to Australia wey get 19 million.
Na three years bifor di World Cup qualifier na im Fifa admit dem.
On top of dat, bifor di qualifiers for di 2002 World Cup, Fifa bin tok say only players wey get American passport go dey allowed to represent di Pacific Island nation.
Out of di squad of 20 players, Salapu na di only pesin wey bin qualify to play.
Wetin happun be say dem bin dey desperate assemble dia team.
“We bin get only two weeks to get pipo wey go play for us,” im explain. “Na children from Secondary school we manage select.”
Three of dem dey 15-years and di average age of just 18, di goalkeeper Salapu wey bin dey 20 years dat time be like old man for di team sake of say na children full di team.
E no surprise pipo say di team of children wey no too sabi play football start di game badly for dia qualifying campaign.
Dem bin lose 13-0 to Fiji wit anoda 8-0 loss to Samoa. Dem lost by a small margin 5-0 to Tonga for dia third group game wey bin be like success for dem.
Meanwhile, afta dem narrowly miss out on qualification for di 1998 World Cup, Australia bin wan prove say dem be baba for football.
Australia wey see demsefs as di big boys for football, play dia final group game against American Samoa afta dem just sama Tonga 22-0.
Salapu say im main ambition bifor di match na “make dem no score us pass di 22-0” mark.
Na only eight minutes e take for Con Boutsianis to score Australia first goal. Three minutes later Archie Thompson score. By di time e reach 27 minutes di 22-year-old, wey bin don make two oda appearances for im kontri, score hat-trick. By 75-minutes di goals don reach 13.
David Zdrilic help imsef to score eight goals, while Boutsianis score hat-trick.
Salapu say throughout di match, im dey beg im team mates “to go forward” instead of di way wey dem bin pack like “bundle” for im front dey block im view, im say sometimes e dey hard for am to see di ball.
Di only attack wey American Samoa bin get for di match occur for di 86th minute, wen dem force Australia goalkeeper Michael Petkovic to make one save.
Salapu say im tink say di way Australia (Socceroos) approach di game dey unsporting.
“How many goals wey una need to balance?” im ask.
If im be di coach of Australia dat day, im say im for tell di team to “keep possession until di match end” wen dem don score 20 times.
Salapu get to wait 10 years bifor im fit remove di memory of dat humiliation from im mind.
By dis stage, American Samoa bin get up to 38 back to back defeats and a goal difference of minus 217.
Dem bin dey 204 for di Fifa rankings, dem bin dey share bottom spot wit Andorra, Montserrat, Samoa and San Marino.
However, di team bin just appoint one Dutchman Thomas Rongen as manager and Salapu bin dey confident enough for di project to come out of retirement.
One of Rongen innovations dat time, na to change formation from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1, wey fit give dem beta defensive cover.
On 23 November 2011 American Samoa face Tonga for dia first qualifying match for di 2014 World Cup.
Salapu say: “Our whole team bin dey positive say we go win.”
Just before half-time Tonga keeper Shalom Luanio fire shot from Ramin Ott wey enta im own net.
For di 74th minute Kaneti Falela lob one ball over Luanio and im score American Samoa second goal.
“I happy well well and I be like, ‘I get to keep dat emotion in because I need to focus in di game’,” Salapu remember.
Tonga score one goal back for di 87th minute, but e bin no dey enough. Di game finish 2-1 and American Samoa finally enjoy dia first Fifa-recognised victory at last.
One decade afta dat 31-0 humiliation against Australia, Salapu save imsef and enjoy di moment.
“Na di first time I eva cry for football since 2001 against Australia,” im tok.
Dem use Rongen achievement wit American Samoa for one 2023 Taika Waititi film Next Goal Wins, wia Michael Fassbender play di role of di coach.
Salapu still dey play for di national team and im son Dylan dey also play for di Under-17 as midfielder.
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