Tisam’s team will be playing three matches against Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa, and the coach is adamant their prime objective is to win the tournament and progress to the OFC U-20 Championship which will be held in Vanuatu in September.
“Winning this competition is our ultimate goal if we are looking ahead to Vanuatu.
“I am going in with confidence that our team will perform well in Tonga,” Tisam says.
The Cook Islands will face the hosts in their opener next Tuesday before a meeting with Samoa three days later.
Their third and final test will pit them against American Samoa on 27 June.
Tisam is anticipating a hard-fought competition and he says his players are well prepared for the challenge.
“I’m not too sure about our opponents but I know it will be a very physical tournament which my players are aware of.
“The boys have been preparing well and hard for this competition and I think with the added experience coming from our overseas contingent of players we can achieve the result we are aiming for,” he says.
“It’s is very important to us to do well as our national men’s missed out by a point to qualify for the next stage in 2015.”
The Rarotonga-based players and officials will be joined by their New Zealand and Australian teammates on Thursday night in Auckland, where they will spend two days and play a friendly match against an Ellerslie Football Club team before their departure to the Tongan capital.

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