New Caledonia’s U-16 squad are preparing for their second friendly match in Malaysia after going down 5-0 in the opening test on 20 August.
The side has been in Kuala Lumpur for the past week working on the final preparations ahead of the OFC U-16 Championship in Solomon Islands next month.
The camp has included 16 sessions and three international friendlies with Malaysia which coach Leon Waitronyie said are all expected to play a role in helping the squad achieve their objective of qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup for the second time.
“We’ve set our sights high, we want to qualify for another FIFA World Cup,” he former U-17 assistant coach said.
“Since we went to the World Cup in India, we’ve been saying that preparing as best we can is really important. This is the third camp, after those held in April and June which were held in-country.
“One of our guiding principles was to work on the spirit of the group, the cohesion.”
Going more in-depth into the squad he has assembled, Waitronyie said it’s a balanced squad which is perhaps slightly weaker than that which qualified for India.
“We’re working a lot on the mental side of the game and our defence,” he said.
“The message we’re wanting to instill in the group is to defend well in order to attack better. That’s in part because we know that up front we can create something at any moment.”
The side struggled in their first international against Malaysia, with head of delegation Adrien Apikaoua saying it wasn’t the team the staff are used to seeing.
“We didn’t really recognise our team,” he said.
“They had a good first 15 minutes then from the moment they conceded the first goal, we broke down a little bit.
“The team reacted a little too late. They’ll be keen to do better in the two coming matches.”
New Caledonia U-16 Malaysia Tour squad
Goalkeepers
Enzo TOEGINO – AS Mont-Dore
Raumuald DALMAS – AS Mont-Dore
Malcom JUNI – Paita FC
Defenders
Tyeou BOANO – AS Mont-Dore
Brayan BOANOU – AS Mont-Dore
Enzo KECINE – AS Lossi
Isaak SIMANE – AS Wetr
Qaeko WATRONE – We Luecilla
Willy READ – AS Lossi
Midfielders
Paul JONE – AS Mont-Dore
Eckson AJAPUHNYA – AS Mont-Dore
Enzo LEDIEU – AS Mont-Dore
Claude WADELA – Paita FC
Paul XALITE – AS Magenta
Tue WAZIARIMA – AS Magenta
Christopher TIHOPU – AS Kirikitr
Hnadreng FOREST – SC Ne Drehu
Forwards
Luc POUGIN – Paita FC
Jules-Edouard HANQUEZ – Paita FC
Waielo IHAGE – Paita FC
Andre MATHA – AS Wetr
David POUYA – JS Baco
Jean-Daniel NAXUE – SC Ne Drehu