But Luvu, who was also in charge of his country’s representatives at the OFC U-17 Championship in January, is used to being in this position and knows how to get the most out of his resources.
His side did not win any of their four matches at the U-17 tournament but defended resolutely and proved hard to break down at times, frustrating eventual champions New Zealand in particular for long periods during the pair’s meeting in the group stages.
Luvu, who doubles as the Football Federation American Samoa (FFAS) men’s development officer, put plenty of players behind the ball on that occasion and is likely to employ similar tactics in Auckland again, leaving strikers Taalenuu Faavi, Ryan Petaia, Chris Seui and Roy Luani to make the most of the possession they receive.
No 1 goalkeeper Rhine Samuelu could see plenty of action and his form will go a long way to deciding whether American Samoa can confound expectations and pick up some shock wins.
They have been drawn in a tough-looking Group A with Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, each of whom will fancy their chances of picking up three points against Luvu’s men. But he is hoping the players’ strong team spirit and determined approach will result in the side being no easybeats.
“It will be a big challenge for us but our players have big hearts and a no fear attitude,” Luvu says. “We hope they channel that into producing some positive results.”
While there will be no lack of work ethic, Luvu admits he does not have a lot of experience in his squad to draw upon.
“There are a lot of players in our team new to international competition,” he says. “But 19 of them participated in our national league last year against much older players so they have a bit of maturity to help them out.”
The American Samoa squad arrived in Auckland on Saturday and will take part in the tournament’s opening match on Thursday morning, when they are scheduled to take on a strong Vanuatu side from 10.30am local time.
Vanuatu coach Moise Poida has a talented squad at his disposal which features a number of players who have enjoyed impressive seasons in senior competition the TVL Premier League.
American Samoa’s best chance of picking up some points will probably arrive in the following match, a meeting with Papua New Guinea on Saturday afternoon. They will then close their group stage campaign with another difficult fixture against Fiji on Monday.
They stopped off in Samoa on the way to Auckland and made good use of their stopover by playing a friendly match against their hosts’ national U-20 team.
FFAS CEO Tavita Taumua is very thankful for the generosity shown by the Football Federation Samoa, who is not sending a team to the OFC U-20 Championship.
“We are extremely grateful for this show of brotherly love towards us as they also accomodated and fed us at no cost to FFAS while we waited out the hours until we left for New Zealand,” Taumua says. “It goes without saying that we will do the same thing for them sometime in the future.”
For more on American Samoa football go to www.ffas.as