Samoa edge neighbours to secure passage

Samoa have narrowly won through to Round Two of Oceania qualifying for Brazil 2014 after edging a 1-0 win to deny neighbours American Samoa an unlikely progression. American Samoa needed a win to progress, while host nation Samoa entered the match at J.S. Blatter Stadium in Apia knowing that a draw would be sufficient to claim the one and only ticket on offer in the four-nation Round One. The hosts dominated the encounter but it took until the last minute to claim the win when Silao Malo converted a counter attack. In fact it was American Samoa who had the chance of the match ten minutes earlier when Diamond Ott went one-on-one with Masi Toetu but his shot hit the post and rolled to safety. The earlier match saw Tonga finish second, on goals scored, when they defeated Cook Islands 2-1 thanks to a Kinitoni Falatau injury-time winner. Tonga had taken a first-half lead through Timote Maamaaloa only for Grover Harmon to equaliser before the interval.