The inaugural edition of the competition will be held at Loto-Tonga Centre – the home of the Tonga Football Association – in ‘Atele and is set to bring together the champion clubs of American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga to fight for a place in the 2013 O-League.
The winner of the four-team tournament will play off against New Caledonian side Mont-Dore, who finished the 2012 O-League with fewer points that any other side, to qualify for the next edition of Oceania’s premier club competition.
With so much at stake, the competition will be tough but Loto Ha’apai president Lui Aho believes his team has the potential to win.
“We have a good squad which includes youngsters and some vastly experienced players who are current or former international representatives,” he says.
“We also have members of the U-23 national team and behind them will be our backbone players like former Tonga captain Kilifi Uele and Fijian flyer Lui Muavesi. So I am confident that United will be unstoppable and should not have a problem in the preliminary round.”
The team has been training for the past fortnight under the watchful eye of coach Timote Polovili, who says fitness is the major area of concern at the moment.
“Most of the players have been inactive since our last competition in November and we are focusing on improving their fitness,” he says.
“Apart from that, we will work on our playing techniques and sharpening our skills. We have been working on our game plan and I believe that things will fall into good shape come the tournament.”
The hosts open their campaign against Cook Islands outfit Tupapa Maraenga on Tuesday before meeting American Samoa’s Pago Youth on Thursday and Kiwi from Samoa on Saturday.
The winner of the round robin will go on to meet Mont-Dore on May 8 for a place in the 2013 O-League.
For more on Tonga football go to www.tongafootball.to

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