Samoa Football Federation (SFSF-NC) is pleased to announce that South Auckland Football club, Papakura AFC, will visit Samoa to play three matches against teams selected from a preliminary Samoa National Men’s trial squad.

Papakura AFC plays in the Northern League Division One which is an Auckland based competition below the Northern Premier League and the New Zealand Football Championship -the top league in New Zealand Football. Papakura AFC will arrive in Samoa on 2 October where they will play three matches against national trial selections consisting of domestic based players only, chosen from the current Football Samoa Premier League.

SFSF-NC CEO Colin Tuaa said the visit of Papakura AFC is another exciting fixture to be added to the 2009 – 2010 calendar. This signals Samoa Football’s ambition to start comprehensive preparations for the 2011 South Pacific Games in New Caledonia.

"This is a great opportunity for domestic based players to train together and demonstrate their playing ability with a view to earning a place in the national men’s development programme squad against a highly competitive club team," says Tuaa.

Tuaa is also inviting the general public of Samoa to come along to the JS Blatter Football complex at Tuanai’mato to watch some quality football.

“I encourage all sports enthusiasts to get along and support the local talent on show and check out Papakura’s squad which includes a mixture of nationalities including a couple of talented Brazilians,” Tuaa says.

And Papakura AFC coach Dave Heads says his team will be eagerly expecting this match, and their Samoan trial team opposition, to be highly competitive.

“We are looking upon this as a great chance to cement an even closer tie between our club and Samoa Football and we are very excited to be involved. We are treating it as a chance to play an "international" type match and I am sure it will be a real test for us against the Samoa Football players.”

The matches will be played at the JS Blatter Football complex on Saturday 3 October, Monday 5 October, and Wednesday 7 October. Kick off for all matches will be 4pm. There are no Football Samoa Premier League fixtures scheduled on the weekend of 3 October in order to accommodate the first the match against Papakura AFC. 

PAPAKURA AFC SQUAD

Players:

Stuart Greenaway               Captain/ Defender

Darren Woolnough              Vice Captain/ Defender/ Midfield

Russell Dixon                      Goalkeeper

Vincent Reibold                   Reserve Goalkeeper

Daniel Billot                        Defender

Gustavo Fidelis                   Defender

Evan Crean                         Defender

Shane Godden                     Striker/ Midfield

Rafael Monteiro                   Striker/ Midfield

Carlos Ferreira                    Striker/ Midfield

Craig Morgan                      Midfield/ Defender

Humberto Alves                  Junior Midfield

Eduardo Gianelli                  Midfield

Preston Peters                    Midfield/ Striker

Glen Casey                         Midfield

Neal Van Berlo                    Midfield/ Defender

Jacob Lynch                       Midfield

Mitchell Dixon                     Midfield

Chris McGarry                     Defender

Ian Adamson                      Defender

Management:

Dave Heads                         Coach

Peter Cooper                       Manager