Kiwi Club president and head coach Martin Tamasese says his team Kiwi are putting 100 per cent into their recruitment and preparations for the OFC Champions League Preliminary tournament in a bid to surpass all previous achievements.
Tamasese is yet to officially announce the full squad but revealed one signing he’s particularly proud of.
“Andrew Barron is one of my outstanding players – he’s a former New Zealand All White who played at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.”
Barron, who officially retired from football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, could be joined by a raft of fellow New Zealand players as the aptly named Kiwi club chase success.
“I can’t promise anything but we have been preparing really hard for months,” Tamamsese says of his squad’s chances when they head to American Samoa to take on the club champions of Tonga, American Samoa and Cook Islands at the OFC Champions League Preliminary.
“I believe in them and I am confident that they are ready for this tournament,” he says.
Tamasese says the side has been committed to training twice a day and while they are still working on fitness, feels progress is being made.
“Our team is doing great, and overall I believe we are ready for the tournament. I’ve seen my boys committing to our trainings every morning and evening and I guess that’s a sign we are ready.”
Kiwi first represented Samoa at the Club Championships in Fiji in 1999 and followed this appearance up with the OFC Champions League Preliminary in Tonga in 2012.
Tamasese is hoping Kiwi’s third appearance at a regional level will see them break their streak and qualify for the next OFC Champions League stage.
The club started in 1977 by a group of friends who studied in New Zealand together. On their return home to Samoa they met every evening at the Malifa fields to play football together, which eventually developed into the Kiwi of today.
The winner of Preliminary will progress directly to the 2014 OFC Champions League where they will join the champions of New Zealand, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
For more on Samoan football go to www.footballsamoa.ws