Suva’S Esava Naqeleca will skipper the Fiji Under 20 football side at the OFC Men’s U-20 World Cup Qualifying tournament held in Tahiti in August.
The rugged defender was the captain of the last U-20 side in 2007 and has already played for Fiji U23 and the senior side.
Fiji coach Juan Carlos Buzzetti said Naqeleca had a lot of experience and barring any unfortunate injury, would lead the side.
The first U20 camp ended on Monday and 48 players took part in the three-day camp.
But Buzzetti said that he was expecting a bigger turnout and was disappointed that a number of players didn’t turn up.
"We will start to find out now why they didn’t turn up as we had nine
under-17 players who should have been there that weren’t."
Buzzetti said his side still had a lot of work to do in preparation for the qualifiers.
"There are things we are still working out such as how long will we be in camp and will we be in camp for short or long term just prior to the tournament.
"Most of the players are in school and we have to keep that in consideration and have to look at all the best options."
While the talent is tremendous, Buzzetti said there was a need to sharpen up the skill level.
"There is a lot of knowledge but we need to work on the players," he said.
"The fitness level is not there right now too and we need to improve on that."
Fiji missed out on a chance to be part of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada in 2007 after it lost in the play-offs.
Fiji was beaten 3-2 by New Zealand in Auckland last January. Roy Krishna featured in that team.
