The club from Faa’a, a suburb in Tahiti’s capital Papeete, came ever so close to the pinnacle of Oceania’s premier club competition when they reached the final in 2012.
However the Tahitians were beaten 3-1 on aggregate (2-1, 0-1) by Auckland City FC of New Zealand.
Former coach turned technical director Laurent Heinis says this time the team is coming equipped with more experience which he hopes will give them an edge over their opponents.
‘’The last two OFC Champions Leagues were very rich experiences and we learnt a lot from them, mostly the second appearance and the final we lost against Auckland City.
“It was an upsetting result but that gave us a real idea of the progress we needed to make,’’ Heinis explains.
Heinis was coach during both the 2011 and 2012 campaigns and knows those experiences combined with the team’s, so far consistent, sporting year will contribute to their campaign.
‘’The objective this year is clear; we want to qualify for the semi-finals,’’ he says.
The club is on the road to winning its fourth national championship and its sixth Coupe de Tahiti, all of which is positive preparation for the upcoming competition which kicks off in less than a month.
‘’The preparation is going well. We have been having a good season with the prospect of winning two major titles before the OFC Champions League ahead of us.
‘’We play AS Pirae twice this week in the Coupe de Tahiti final first and then in the championship, which will be like a final as we have the same number of points. It will be two good tests before the start of the tournament,’’ he says.
The club has a strong development philosophy, with most of the players currently in the senior squad having graduated from the club’s academy.
‘’We will be keeping the squad we have had from the start of the season. We trust the players who helped the club qualify for the OFC Champions League,” he says.
‘’It will be a good experience for our younger players to compete at the higher level as well.”
The 2012 runners-up face a difficult group in Fiji which includes 2010 OFC Champions League winners Hekari United of Papua New Guinea, 2001 finalists Tafea from Vanuatu and New Zealand side Team Wellington.
‘’We have a difficult group with high quality opponents. They are teams who regularly clinch the top spots in their respective championships,” Heinis reflects.
‘’To secure qualification for the semi-finals we will have to win at least two games and can’t be dependent on the other teams’ results.
‘’We will have to raise our level in each game to qualify. In a competition like this, the first game remains very important.
‘’We will need to be ready for that first game against Team Wellington,’’ he says.
Tefana will begin their 2015 OFC Champions League campaign on 12 April at 7pm against Team Wellington at ANZ Stadium in Suva.