Shailemdra Lal scored five goals; Esala Masi scored four. After defeating Samoa 6–1, they lost to Australia 2–0 to finish in second place and were eliminated from contention. Only the top team from the group qualified through to the second round. They met Australia again at the 2002 OFC Nations Cup in New Zealand. They finished in third place in the group after only winning against New Caledonia followed by an 8–0 loss against Australia. This eliminated Fiji from the semi-finals and saw the sack of Billy Singh ending a seven-year reign in his third stint as coach of the national team. Fiji claimed the 2003 South Pacific Games gold medal at home. The squad, which consisted mostly of young players, was able to go unbeaten throughout the tournament defeating New Caledonia in the gold medal match. Esala Masi was Fiji's top scorer for Fiji with twelve goals which included the seven in the 12–0 win over Kiribati in the group stage. Recent times (2004–) Fiji's qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup started in Samoa. They finished in second place in the qualifying group which featured Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and American Samoa. Their only loss was against Vanuatu on the final match-day. This meant that Fiji qualified through to the 2004 OFC Nations Cup. After drawing with Tahiti and getting a win over Vanuatu, their World Cup chance ended when Fiji lost the next three matches and were eliminated at the second stage of qualifying. Fiji's next tournament was the 2007 South Pacific Games in Samoa, which was also the first round of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. After getting safely through the group, which included Tuvalu, Tahiti, Cook Islands and New Caledonia, they took on Vanuatu for a spot in the semi-finals to qualify for the next round. In the semi-finals, they defeated Vanuatu to advance to the second round of qualifying with a three-goal victory, confirming their spot in the gold medal match. They lost by a single goal to New Caledonia, however, to finish runner-up for the fourth time. The second round of qualifying got off to a rocky start. Goalkeeper, Simione Tamanisau was refused entry because his father had been linked to the 2006 Fijian coup d'état. The match was moved to the end of the qualifying period with Fiji winning 2–0. During that reschedule, the national team