With the preliminary competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa now complete, Fiji striker Osea Vakatalesau has claimed the honour of finishing top-scorer, along with Burkina Faso's Moumouni Dagano, by grabbing a dozen goals from nine matches.
The official facts and figures, released by FIFA yesterday, also show that Oceania recorded the highest goals per match average (4.02) across the six confederations, and the biggest win: Fiji-Tuvalu 16-0.
Vakatalesau grabbed six goals against Tuvalu and formed a lethal partnership with Roy Krishna throughout the qualifying campaign but it wasn't enough for the Fijians who finished eight points behind New Zealand, who go to the world cup after 27 years.
Oceania Player of the Year Shane Smeltz took the spotlight in the crucial Stage 2 qualifying section with eight goals in five games before Rory Fallon sent the All Whites through with a lone strike against Bahrain in the second-leg intercontinental play-off on 14 November.
FIFA's preliminary competition began in Samoa on 25 August 2007 and was wrapped up last Thursday in Montevideo, when Uruguay completed the line-up of 32 teams.
Attendance figures were up with some 20 million fans attending the 853 matches.
However, there was a downward trend in the number of goals scored, with the total of 2344 -- or 2.75 per match -- representing the lowest average since the preliminary competition for the finals in Italy in 1990.
