Reginald Davani is looking forward to Saturdays OFC O-League final as much as anyone.
The former Auckland City striker will be turning out for Kossa FC in the final against Waitakere United on Saturday and is excited to once again grace Oceania’s biggest stage.
After stints in New Zealand with Auckland City, North Shore and Bay Olympic, Davani moved to Honiara to try and fulfill his O-League dreams.
OFC caught up with the Papua New Guinea international before the big match.
How did you end up here at Kossa FC?
I was originally planning on heading back to New Zealand and then I got an email from a friend of mine who’s involved with the club as the team manager and he asked me if I was interested in playing in the O-League. I thought my chance of playing in the O-League had gone by after I left Auckland City but I jumped at the opportunity straight away. It wasn’t about money or anything else it was about being able to play at an elite level in Oceania.
How long have you been here with Kossa FC?
Originally I was only meant to stay for two months, but it’s been near on six months now that I’ve been here. When I need to go home the club lets me go home for a few weeks and then I come back so its worked out pretty good. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it so far and it’s been a great experience and I’m enjoying taking it all in.
How would you describe Kossa’s season with it’s excellent O-League form and questionable domestic form?
We have a very young side and we’re not as experienced as some of the other teams like Makuru who won the league, but we are really trying to be consistent in both competitions and mentally get ourselves right. It can be tough when you go from the highs of playing in the O-League to coming back and getting motivated for the domestic games but we’re trying to find the right balance now. We have a lot of younger boy’s coming through and lack a little bit of experience but we’re just very happy to have made it to the Top 8 and be doing so well in the O-League.
What’s the mood in the Kossa camp with the huge matchup with Waitakere approaching?
It’s a massive game but at the moment we’re all really relaxed. Everyones really happy to be playing at home and I think that as the weekend draws nearer a few nerves will start kicking in. At this stage I personally just can’t wait for the days to go by and cant wait to get out on the field and get playing again.
In your career would playing in the upcoming O-League final rank as one of the highlights?
Definetly, I think that apart from the World Cup Qualifiers and playing for your country this is one of the highlights. It was a great feeling winning the Club championships with Auckland City but this scene is very different and very exciting.
You recently returned from having some trials in Vietnam how did that go?
I went to Vietnam and just got back last week but it wasn’t what I really expected. Things that I was told didn’t actually happen when I got there so it was really the things off the field that didn’t work out and so I told my agent it wasn’t for me. I also had the O-League final in the back of my mind because if I had signed I would have had to transfer straight away and miss the match. The door is still open to go back to that part of the world but at the moment I’m just glad to be back.
Waitakere have a very strong squad with a couple of danger men in Solomon Island internationals Benjamin Totori and Commins Menapi. Have you talked about any tactics in dealing with the threat these two pose?
I think that all our back four play in the national team so they know how to deal with Menapi and Totori although I’m sure it will be different because they’re playing with another team now and their style will be different. The boys know what they have to do and the coaching staff is involved with the national team too so they both know what to do with those two boys.