The Papua New Guineans have been drawn in an even-looking Group B with Fiji, Solomon Islands and Tonga, and Moyap says his charges need to be mindful of the threat posed by each of those sides.
“We may be the second favourites after New Zealand but that is up to other people to say. I wouldn’t agree with that because everybody is here to win and we all have as good a chance as any,” he says.
Papua New Guinea earned the tag after winning both the 2003 and 2007 South Pacific Games titles and holding the Football Ferns to a 2-0 win the last time the sides for an Olympic Games qualifier two years ago.
Moyap was in charge of the team for both gold-winning Games campaign and the loss to New Zealand, and knows plenty about both the Kiwis and his side’s Group B rivals.
“I think all three of them will be tough to beat. Fiji beat us 1-0 in the 2007 South Pacific Games and we got a good game from Tonga in the final as well. They scored first but we managed to go on and beat them 3-1,” he says.
“The Solomon Islands also have a good team and have prepared for this tournament very well. They have been together for quite a while now.”
Papua New Guinea meet Fiji in their first match on Thursday at 1pm and Moyap feels it is vital that his side gets off to a good start.
“We have to win because it’s the first game and you want to stamp your mark,” he says. “The first game is always one of the most important.”
He has a very experienced line-up at his disposal and eight veterans of the last Games victory are still in the squad, including striker Lydia Banabas, who struck eight goals in just six matches at the Games.
But there is also plenty of youthful talent to look out for.
The youngest member of the squad is 15-year-old midfielder Rumona Morris, who captained the Papua New Guinea U-15 team at the recent Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
Moyap is unsure what to expect from the young prodigy and her fellow teenagers.
“It’s a first time experience for a lot of them so I don’t know whether they’ll lift themselves or not. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the first game and see what happens.”