Solomon Islands Bilikiki coach and former international defender Viv Wickham will help lead his team into their first foray into a FIFA world event alongside Eddie Omokirio.
The eyes of the world will be watching the Melanesian side with interest as they take on Portugal, Cameroon and Uruguay. Oceania Football Confederation Media Officer Gordon Glen Watson caught up with Viv Wickham and asked him about Bilikiki’s chances in Brazil next month…
OFC: The reality of playing in the Beach Soccer World Cup must be starting to hit home. What is the mood amongst the squad as the tournament looms?
Viv Wickham: “The boys are now starting to get very excited, they were practically deflated after we were informed that the trip to the Reunion Islands was called off. However, after a couple of days they got over it and are now training hard and looking forward to it.”
OFC: What has the impact of qualifying for the Beach Soccer World Cup had at home in the Solomon Islands?
Viv Wickham: “Qualifying for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup has inspired a lot of Solomon Islanders, especially when they read in the paper that we will be up against the likes of Cameroon, Uruguay and Portugal, country’s that we can only dream of playing against in any form of football. To go from beginners to World Cup finalists really fascinates the public and since qualifying for Brazil, the general feeling amongst all Solomon Islanders is that “we can do it”, especially after they have seen what we have done.”
OFC: What has the response been of your outdoor football internationals to qualification?
Viv Wickham: “Everyone wants to get involved somehow and the fact that we have qualified for a World Cup has made the unselected outdoor internationals envious of what there fellow countrymen have achieved.”
OFC: The pedigree of your opponents is exceptional. How do you intend coping with this?
Viv Wickham: “We have a lot of young and athletic players who’s attitude to learning is first class. They have taken on what we have taught them and will be out to play how we want them to play. Apart from country names, we haven’t even heard of the players in our pool before and that’s pretty much how we will approach all games in Rio.”
OFC: How much do you know about the players of Portugal, Uruguay, and Cameroon?
Viv Wickham: “We haven’t heard of any of them before. I’m not saying that in an arrogant way. We have only been exposed to some of the outdoor stars of the world like the Socceroos. A few of our team played against Australia in the OFC Nations Cup and World Cup playoffs prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.”
OFC: What will constitute a “good performance” at the Beach Soccer World Cup Finals for the team?
Viv Wickham: “We are there to compete and if we compete to the best of our ability with minimal mistakes, that will be a good performance.”
OFC: Will you be playing?
Viv Wickham: “Only if we are hit by injuries.”
OFC: How has the squad handled the transition from outdoor football and training methods to training for Beach Soccer?
Viv Wickham: “They have responded well given the limited know how we have and as mentioned earlier, their attitude to absorbing new information is top class.”
OFC: Which individual player do you expect your team will rely on?
Viv Wickham: “Everyone relies on each other. Any success we have will be because everyone is pulling together.”
OFC: The eyes of the world will be on the performance of the Bilikiki…do you fear the team will suffer stage fright?
Viv Wickham: “Well, in terms of experience and international exposure we are probably the most disadvantaged team in our pool. However, we have proved so many people wrong and had to overcome so many barriers in getting to Rio so stage fright, amongst other things, is just another barrier we have to overcome.”