The tiny Pacific Island nation does not have a proud history of success in the world’s most popular game and Dutchman de Haan admits he knew little about the country when he took over the coaching reins.
“I had never heard of Tuvalu in my whole life,” he says. “But it is a privilege to coach the national team and I am looking forward to helping in any way I can to develop football in Tuvalu.”
De Haan ended up in this part of the world after receiving an offer from countrymen Paul Driessen and Koen van Santvoordand, who are behind a project to develop football in Tuvalu and secure the country FIFA membership. The former Netherlands U-21 national team coach arrived in the middle of this month to put his players through their first training session under his watchful eye.
“I’ve always wanted to see more of the world with my wife and this seemed like a good way to start,” he says.
He admits Tuvalu’s campaign in the latest edition of the Pacific Games, which kick off with a busy day of fixtures tomorrow, is a trip into the unknown but is confident in the ability and determination of his players.
“I have not seen many other teams in the Pacific but I have heard that Tuvalu is not that competitive,” he says. “But we will be a surprise package at the Pacific Games. I know there will be plenty of other strong teams but we will give them all a good game.”
Unfortunately for de Haan and his men, the draw has not been kind to Tuvalu and they have been pitched in the six-team Group A, a pool tagged as the ‘Group of Death’ by some.
The other members of the group are hosts New Caledonia, American Samoa, Guam, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, most of whom will be targeting the Tuvalu match as an excellent chance to pick up three points.
Along with Kiribati, Tuvalu are the underdogs of the men’s tournament and cannot compete with their more illustrious rivals in terms of resources and wealth of talent. The country has few footballers to choose from when compared to the likes of group rivals New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and will certainly find the going tough against that trio.
Goalkeepers Faiana Ofati, Jelly Selau and Katepu Sieni are all fighting to secure the No 1 jersey and whoever manages to lay claim to it is likely to have plenty of opportunities to catch the eye during the tournament.
But the presence of fellow underdogs American Samoa and Guam – who the Tuvalu players will know little about as they are not an OFC-member – in the group means Tuvalu do have every chance of earning some positive results.
Strikers Lopati Okelani, Alopua Petoa and Lutelu Tiute – the only attacking players named in a defensive-minded squad – will have to make the most of the chances that come their way in front of goal in those matches if Tuvalu are to return home with any points.
De Haan certainly has the coaching nous to lead his players towards that goal. As well as guiding the Dutch U-21 team, the 68-year-old has been in charge of the SC Heerenveen and Ajax Cape Town clubs and is well-regarded in his homeland.
He started his Tuvalu tenure in excellent fashion with a 3-0 win over Samoa, a result that was the largest victory recorded by Tuvalu and only the country’s third ever win.
Although Samoa will not be competing at the Pacific Games, de Haan will have taken great heart from that triumph and can also look to a 1-1 draw with Tahiti at the 2007 Games as a sign that Tuvalu can compete on the international stage. The nation’s other positive footballing results were a 5-3 win over Tonga and 3-2 success against Kiribati, in the 1979 and 2003 Pacific Games respectively.
Tuvalu open their latest Games campaign against American Samoa on Saturday at Riviere Salée in Nouméa.

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