The 23-man squad picked for the tournament, which takes place in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara from 1-10 June, has spent the past week at a training camp in Ba and received a welcome boost with the late arrival of goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau and New Zealand-based striker Roy Krishna.
Fiji have been drawn in Group B and will take on New Zealand, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea as coach Carlos Buzzetti and his men attempt to keep alive their dreams of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ with a top-four finish.
Doing so would go some way towards returning Fiji to its former glory and improving on the current world ranking of 160.
Fiji now sit behind New Zealand (130), New Caledonia (155) and even minnows Samoa (156) on the Oceania ladder and national team director Tarunesh Reddy says this status must be upped.
“The last time Fiji played in an international competition was at the Pacific Games in New Caledonia last year,” he says.
“The ranking is determined by our international performances and we have not played any games since September. So it is important we get to a high stage in the Nations Cup for us to move back up on the rankings.”
The country’s previous outing was very nearly a major triumph with the U-23 national team coming within a whisker of qualifying for the London Olympic Games.
Reddy believes that team has now set a benchmark for its senior counterparts to meet.
“The U-23 team managed to reach the final where they lost to hosts New Zealand by just 1-0,” he says.
In a blow to Fiji’s chances of pulling off a similar string of results in Honiara, midfielder Esava Naqeleca – who lead the Olympic team to that runners-up placing as captain – has not made himself available for the Nations Cup.
Reddy revealed the disappointing news this week but says all other preparations are running smoothly.
“We have set a plan for the national team and so far everything is going well,” he says.
Those members of the squad whose club sides are involved in the Fiji FACT semi-finals this weekend will be released from their national duties to take part in proceedings at Govind Park in Ba, where avoiding injury ahead of the most prestigious tournament on the Oceania calendar is sure to be a priority.

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