The Oceania qualifiers will be staged from 1-10 October at the Loto-Tonga Soccer Centre in Nuku’alofa, Tonga with the winners set to book themselves a berth alongside Papua New Guinea. Getting ready to fight it out for that sole spot are the finest young players on offer from New Caledonia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.
With women’s football development on the rise across the Pacific, this edition of the tournament is likely to be one of the most competitive yet. Youth development has come under the spotlight across the Oceania region in recent years with Development Centres and Centres of Excellence being installed across OFC’s 11 Member Associations and playing a strong supporting role to the handful of youth academies that have been established.
The pathways in place have already produced many players and some of these will be in action for their countries in Tonga, meaning the Kiwis face a far-from-straightforward task in earning their fifth title in a row.
Coach Leon Bernie does, however, have a strong squad at his disposal and the names of several of his young stars will be familiar to football fans across the Pacific. Jasmine Pereira and Daisy Cleverley have already made their way into the senior Football Ferns make-up, joining the squad in Canada for the FIFA Women’s World Cup earlier this year. They’ve been on the youth scene for some-time, with Cleverley attending both the U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cups in 2014 and scoring New Zealand’s only goal at the latter event. A large portion of the squad also have FIFA tournament experience which should lend well to their chase for more regional glory in Tonga.
Tonga have a strong women’s development programme and recent results on the regional stage are evidence that they are starting to make inroads. Captain Vea Funaki has returned to the fold along with Ofaloto Laakulu, both of whom have been outstanding rearguards for the senior side in recent times. All up, coach Penateti Feke has included nine members of the XV Pacific Games squad, giving an element of experience to the side that should come in handy.
First-time coach Leti Tamasese has named a relatively untested side for this competition with just one member of the squad having turned out at regional level previously. Lagimaina Akari was in Papua New Guinea for the XV Pacific Games, which means her teammates will likely look to her for advice and leadership. The side has a majority of domestically developed members, but a number of New Zealand and Australia-based players have also been included. It’s a method that worked well during the Pacific Games, and there will be a lot of eyes on these members of the team to add their experience gleaned from regular appearances in some of the region’s top women’s leagues.
Vanuatu has a fairly regular league up-and-running in Port Vila and we were recently treated to the exciting conclusion of the first Women’s Open League. Coach Joel Rarua has been able to bring back a number of players who turned out in 2014 including Brenda Anis, Julie-Rose Nasse and Johnita Willie among others. Having been through this type of competition before they can now impart some of their knowledge to the squad’s newer inclusions.
New Caledonia were just shy of breaking past Papua New Guinea at the XV Pacific Games in the race for the gold medal. With this competition their next opportunity to make up for that final defeat, the five players from the senior squad coming to Tonga will be out to prove themselves. Sidney Gatha, Isablle Hace and Noe Valefakaaga are just three names that coach Kamali Fitialeata has been working with at senior and U-20 level over the past 12 months and he’ll be relying on them to lead by example. Every member of the squad has been developing on the domestic scene and having seen some excellent skills emerge from New Caledonia’s men’s and women’s sides over the years we can expect more exciting displays when the chase for regional glory kicks off in Tonga.
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup is scheduled to take place in Papua New Guinea in 2016.
2015 OFC U-20 Women’s Championship
Loto-Tonga Soccer Stadium, Nuku’alofa, Tonga
1-10 October
New Caledonia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu
For the full team lists click here
For the schedule click here

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