“This was the first experience being involved with a Pacific team and I just want to thank Anthony (Pisano) and Andrew (Leong) at Amicale FC, but also the whole of Vanuatu for accepting us,” he says.
“We spent five beautiful and lovely days there and were treated by the public like our own family so it’s a good experience to be part of.”
With only two warm up matches as a team ahead of the Fiji match, Nikas says the result was very welcome, and deserved.
“I think our opening match was a good spectacle between two teams,” he says
“I was very happy with the way our squad controlled the game in some aspects. We played good football and I think our goals showed that.
“Obviously Fiji U-20 are a young and talented bunch. I actually thought they’ve got a lot of potential and they’re trying to play the right football in some areas so they can go a long way if they work hard.”
When grilled on the moments Fiji came close to scoring, Nikas says Amicale’s experience under pressure was key.
“You’re always going to be under pressure but it’s how you deal with it and how you respond to it,” he explains.
“Credit to the boys that they stuck to what the coaching staff asked them to do. We stayed patient at 1-0, 2-0, 3-0.
“We could have played better football in the second half but I think everyone was excited about how well we started and the position that we were in and we just wanted to capitalise on that.”
Looking ahead to this evening’s match against Bahrain club side Busaiteen, Amicale technical director Anthony Pisano says while they will look at some player rotation there won’t be mass changes made.
“We’ll be taking a cautious approach because we don’t know a lot about Busaiteen apart from having an idea on teams from that region being quite good technically, and able to move the ball quickly,” he says.
Amicale will play Busaiteen this evening at The Trusts Arena, with kick off scheduled for 7.30pm.
OFC TV will be live streaming the event you can watch all the action here

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