The Football Ferns have never lost to Papua New Guinea and swept them aside with ease in an 11-0 victory the last time the sides met, in the final of the 2010 OFC Women’s Nations Cup.
But Mune is taking a positive approach to the teams’ next encounter and believes his squad has the potential to cause problems for New Zealand counterpart Tony Readings.
“The opening to the game will be important,” Mune says.
“If we can really get stuck in and put some pressure on them then who knows what could happen. I told the players that New Zealand is a very good side and they all understand that. But we’re here to play football and will try to give back to them as much as what we get.
“It’s not going to be easy for us and we will have to work overtime if we want to win. This is a very important game for us and the players are all mindful of that.”
The heavy nature of that defeat at the Nations Cup will be a concern to Mune but he can take heart from the result of the sides’ most recent meeting prior to that.
The Football Ferns travelled to Port Moresby in 2008 to take on Papua New Guinea in a one-legged play-off for that year’s Olympic Games and were held to a hard-fought 2-0 win at PMRL Stadium.
A similar result in Whangerei would be a huge boost for Papua New Guinea going into the second leg, which takes place in Port Moresby on April 4.
Mune knows his players could see little of the ball on Saturday if the Ferns’ talented attack clicks into gear but has readied his squad to meet that challenge.
“New Zealand are very strong and fast physically but we have prepared well for that. Our players are much fitter than they were in the past and are really ready for this game.”
Papua New Guinea’s run towards London 2012 – a path that began with success in the first stage of the OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifier in Tonga earlier this month – has earned the players recognition in their homeland but Mune says they must not lose focus of the job at hand.
“We have had a lot of coverage in the papers back home lately which has been really good. But the team needs to stay focused on the game and not get carried away by the occasion.”
Mune has no injury concerns and has made only one change to the line-up that triumphed in Tonga, bringing defender Janie Norrie in for Docas Sesevo.
“All the Pacific countries are trying really hard to get to this level and we are the fortunate ones at the moment because we now have a chance to play the best team in Oceania. We are here to do well and are as confident as we can be.”

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