National team coach Maurice Tillotson will take charge of the home side for the friendly match, set to take place at the Cook Islands Football Association headquarters in Rarotonga on August 20, and believes it offers a great opportunity for the development of the game.
“Having a club of Waitakere’s stature visiting Rarotonga is a tremendous boost for Cook Islands football,” says the former All White. “All the players and the football community in general will benefit from seeing the skills of these players first hand.”
Tillotson named his Cook Islands squad for the XIV Pacific Games last month and is in the process of preparing his players for the event, set to be held in New Caledonia from August 27 to September 9.
He says the enormous challenge of facing Waitakere will be ideal preparation for the task that lies ahead at the Games.
“The Cook Islands ‘selection’ will include the majority of players who will contest the Pacific Games tournament. It will be an excellent build up for the team prior to their departure for Noumea,” says Tillotson, who made 15 appearances for New Zealand over three years from 1972.
Most of the Cook Islands side will consist of stand-out performers from the local league but several players based overseas in New Zealand and Australia will also be included.
Waitakere will likewise look to use the match as part of their build up for upcoming events, in their case the ASB Premiership national league and 2011/12 O-League.
Coach Neil Emblen is yet to name his squad for the new season and it is unclear what players he will choose to bring to Rarotonga.
But, in comparison to the base from which the Cook Islands must pluck, Waitakere have a wealth of talent at their disposal and will be using the match as a training run as they look to defend their national title and earn the O-League crown for the first time since 2008.
The current Waitakere squad includes the likes of former English professional Martin Bullock, Fiji international Roy Krishna and ex-All White Allan Pearce. There are also four U-20 internationals among the ranks who have just competed at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia – Tim Payne, Dakota Lucas, Anthony Hobbs and Sean Lovemore.
The west Aucklanders have won the national league three times and the O-League twice.
For more on Cook Islands football go to www.cookislandsfootball.com

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