The two sides have met twice before in FIFA World Cup qualifiers with the Tongans running out 4-0 victors at the South Pacific Games four years ago while at the 2002 preliminaries they enjoyed a 5-0 win. In all World Cup qualifiers, Tonga have the best record of the four participating teams with seven wins and nine losses.
But the team is very much an unknown threat this time around as the locally based players have spent most of the year training at home with Australian coach Chris Williams.
Only twice have they ventured offshore in 2011 with a trip to New Zealand in September as well as a tour of Fiji last week where they lost to Lautoka 2-1. On both occasions they chose to play club sides, meaning their opposition have had no chance to see how they stack up against other Pacific Islands nations.
The lack of international matches has left Australia coach Chris Williams unsure of how they will fare in the opening match.
“For me, no one knows what to expect from us and, to a degree, we don’t know what to expect from ourselves as well,” says Williams.
He is also believes it will be a competitive match.
“I don’t think they’re the underdogs at all. They’ve played more competitive matches than we have and they have a very experienced coach. So we’ll give them the utmost respect.”
American Samoa meanwhile have lost all 12 of their qualifying matches since entering the competition in 2001. But Alex Iuli Godinet, President of the Football Federation American Samoa, says the team will gradually become more competitive with each campaign.
“This is a significant occasion – the qualification process for one of the biggest sporting events in the world,” says Godinet.
“In terms of preparations, our technical staff have been training this team since the beginning of the year and we gained valuable experience at the recent Pacific Games in New Caledonia.”
American Samoa will no doubt be targeting this game as arguably their best chance of picking up a historic result.
With the benefit of proximity, they were the first to arrive in Apia and will be well suited to the humid conditions as temperatures look set to rise to 30 degrees on Tuesday, compared to the mild 23 degree highs in Tonga at present. American Samoa have been put through a rigourous training schedule by Thomas Rongen, who was one of the inaugural coaches in the MLS before taking charge of the United States U-20 national team.
All in all, it is expected to be a physical and fiercely competitive contest.
The round-robin tournament concludes on Saturday 26 November with the winner going on to join OFC’s top seven teams (based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Ranking) for the Stage 2 Qualifiers in Fiji next June.
For the match schedule click here
2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Qualifiers – OFC Stage 1
American Samoa [ASA] vs Tonga [TGA]
Tuesday 22 November
J.S. Blatter Stadium
Apia, Samoa
Local kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Andrew ACHARI [FIJ]
Assistant referee 1: David CHARLES [PNG]
Assistant referee 2: Michael JOSEPH [VAN]
Fourth official: Bruce GEORGE [VAN]
American Samoa: 1. Nicky SALAPU, 2. Liatama AMISONE, 3. Uasila’a HELETA, 4. Daru TAUMUA, 5. Tala LUVU, 6. Roy LUANI, 7. D’Angelo HERRERA, 8. Casper KURESA, 9. Ramin OTT, 10. Kid BARTLEY, 11. Diamond OTT, 12. Pati SINAPATI, 13. Faimalo TAPUI, 14. Frederick UHRLE, 15. Gene NEEMIA, 16. Frankie BEAUCHAMP, 17. Natia NATIA, 18. Justin MANA’O, 19. Rawlston MASANIA’I, 20. Shalom LUANI, 21. Suani UELESE, 22. Fitiuta MAIAVA, 23. Chin Fu TAASE
Coach: Thomas RONGEN [NED]
Tonga: 1. Soane FAUPULA, 2. Tovo UELE, 3. Ilalio LEAKONA, 4. Fine PALEI, 5. Soni MAFI, 6. Folio MOEAKI, 7. Pio PALU, 8. Neo FEAO, 9. Kinitoni FALATAU, 10. Malakai SAVIETI, 11. Lafaele MOALA, 12. Timote MAAMALOA, 13. Viliami VAITAKI, 14. Lokoua TAUFAHEMA, 16. Petesa ONGOSIA, 17. Siosifa MOIMOI, 19. Aleki FEHOKO, 20. Beni PAU, 21. Vitolio LATU, 22. Kaneti FELELA
Coach: Chris WILLIAMS [AUS]