The Oceania qualifiers take place at Auckland’s Centre Park from April 21 and 29 with the winner going on to represent OFC at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia during July and August.
The Fijian squad has prepared very extensively for the event – they have been together since January last year and arrived in Auckland a fortnight ago – and are expected to push hard for a spot in the final.
“Hopes are high and we are confident of winning the play-offs and becoming the first national team to qualify for a World Cup,” Ibrahim says.
“There is no reason why we cannot win. The squad has been in camp for more than a year and played together in the 2010 National Football League. The players have also been representing their various districts,” he says.
“If this U-20 team does not qualify then I believe we will need to reassess our various preparation plans before we prepare a national side again for Oceania qualifiers.”
Fiji will fight it out with six other nations in Auckland for OFC’s sole place at the World Cup and have been drawn in Group A with Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and American Samoa. The three-team Group B consists of favourites New Zealand, New Caledonia and Solomon Islands.
Ibrahim says the 23-man Fiji squad has settled well in New Zealand and has already played three warm-up matches, each one against sides from Auckland-based club Metro FC.
“Everyone in camp is fully focused on the task we have ahead of us,” he says.
“We have had a lot of support from the Fijian community here and have won all of our warm-up matches – 2-1, 4-2 and 3-1. The training has been going well and it is not as cold as we had anticipated.”
Three players from Fiji will miss out on taking part in the tournament as each nation can only select 20 players.
Fiji’s first match is against Papua New Guinea on April 21.
For more on Fiji football go to www.fijifootball.com.fj