Four of Oceania’s Melanesian nations will get their first taste of the OFC U-19 Championship when Group B gets underway at Stade Fautaua in Papeete, Tahiti on Monday.
New Caledonia and Solomon Islands will open the day’s action before Vanuatu take on Fiji in the evening match.
New Caledonia come into the competition hoping to replicate the success of the national U-17 squad who qualified for the nation’s first FIFA tournament when they made it to the semi-finals of the regional competition in February last year.
“We’re here with a young group that came in 2017 with the U-17 and we’re back here again with the U-19 national team,” coach Felix Tagawa said.
The Hienghene Sport coach and former international said the unity in the group is strong despite having a range of backgrounds in the squad.
“We have a good amount of diversity in our players – we have Caledonians, French, the game is mixed and we’ve been able to link the two groups well.
“We’re strong in attack, we’re potent and we’ll try to leverage that.”
Solomon Islands are renowned for their unpredictable talent though Batram Suri, another former international, has been working hard on harnessing that to create a strong collective.
“The boys have prepared well for this tournament. If you look in this competition, every country has its own gals and aims to achieve, that is, to qualify for the world cup – us too,” Suri said.
“To play against New Caledonia is always a challenge for us. They can beat us, we can beat them, but most times they beat us. We are here to challenge any team ahead of us, especially in our group.”
In the early evening Vanuatu, the 2016 OFC U-20 runners-up, will meet the 2015 champions Fiji in what will be a hotly contest confrontation.
With Vanuatu’s arrival in Tahiti delayed, Fiji take an advantage over their opponents.
But that doesn’t mean Fiji will take them any more lightly than usual, with coach Bal Reddy expecting Vanuatu to be a tough contender come Monday.
“I think Vanuatu has always been a real force in OFC. With all due respect to Vanuatu, I know they will be up there because they qualified for the last world cup. They’ve tasted victory once and they’ll be coming out fighting and I think they’ll be a good team to play with.”
Reddy also acknowledged his side has had a good build-up to their opening match thanks to a short tour of Australia ahead of their arrival in Tahiti.
“It was a good learning experience and good exposure for the boys. Being exposed to his level ahead of the tournament and having a friendly was a big asset to us.”
Ends
Additional Information
New Caledonia vs. Solomon Islands
Monday 6 August
Stade Fautaua, Tahiti
Kick-off: 15h00 local (Tuesday 7 August 14h – TGA / 11h PNG / 12h VAN & NCL / 13h FIJ & NZL)
#OFCU19M #NCLSOL
Click here to view the live stream
Match Officials
Referee: Norbert HAUATA (TAH)
Assistant Referee 1: Folio MOEAKI (TGA)
Assistant Referee 2: Oito PARI (TAH)
Fourth Official: David YAREBOINEN (PNG)
New Caledonia: 1. Une KECINE (GK), 2. Martin MAKAM, 4. Jean-Baptiste CAROINE, 5. Jules OMEI, 6. Kiam WANESSE, 7. Titouan RICHARD, 8. Cyril DRAWILO, 9. Jean-Jacques KATRAWA, 10. Pierre BAKO, 11. Vita LONGUE, 12. Armand HARPER, 13. Pierre WAWIA, 14. Paul GOPE-FENEPEJ, 15. Neil WAHIOBE, 16. Leonard MAKALU, 17. Georges WAKANAMUNE, 18. Raoul WENISSO, 19. Josua HLEMU, 20. Christopher YEIWENE (GK), 21. Lucas BITAUD
Coach : Felix TAGAWA (NCL)
Solomon Islands: 1. Joel NANAGO (GK), 2. George LEAGA, 3. John AETA, 4. Aengari GAGAME, 5. Absolom WAWANE, 6. Patrick TAROGA, 7. Junior DAVID, 8. Henly RAMO, 9. Ali MEKAWIR, 10. Marcus CHAN, 11. Lino HOUAIRIA, 12. Junior MATA (GK), 13. Junior ASHLEY, 14. Franck KABUI, 15. Anthony KASAU, 16. Don KEANA, 17. Tuita MAEOBIA< 18. William KOMASI, 19. Simon JEDZINI, 20. Raynick LAETA
Coach: Batram SURI (SOL)
Vanuatu vs. Fiji
Monday 6 August
Stade Fautaua, Tahiti
Kick-off: 18h00 local (Tuesday 7 August – 14h PNG / 15h VAN & NCL / 16h FIJ & NZL / 17h TGA)
#OFCU19M #VANFIJ
Click here to view the live stream
Match Officials
Referee: Campbell-Kirk WAUGH (NZL)
Assistant Referee 1: Sione TEU (TGA)
Assistant Referee 2: John PAREANGA (COK)
Fourth Official: Kader ZITOUNI (TAH)
Vanuatu: 1. Dgen LEO (GK), 2. Tarilolo HINGE, 3. Lorenzo OBED, 4. Junior BULE, 5. Julio VAHIRUA, 6/ Tom SAKSAK, 7. Jordy TASIP, 8. Presley ALICK, 9. Jean-Claude BATICK, 10. Micah TOMMY, 11. Jayson TARI, 12. Nelsin RAWOR, 13. Brian TARI, 14. Abert VANVA, 15. Rhydley NAPAU, 16. Jack WILLIE, 17. Zidane MAGUEKON, 18. Anthony PELI, 19. Waiwo KALMET, 20. Joshua WILLIE (GK)
Coach: Kaison MAKI (VAN)
Fiji: 1. Mohammed ALAM (GK), 2. Mohammed RASASA, 3. Semi MATALAU, 4. Apisai SESEWA, 5. Sekove NAIVAKANANUMI, 6. Mohammed NAIZAL, 7. Phillip LEONG, 8. Joeli RANITU, 9. Merril NAND, 10. Mohammed KHAN, 12. Kishan SAMI, 13. Savenaca BALEDROKROKA, 14. Tito VODOWAQA, 15. Iliesa RAKUKA, 16. Ratu DAU, 17. Shivam NAIDU, 18. Isake NADUVU, 19. Peni TUIGULAGULA, 20. Asaeli BATIKASA (GK)
Coach : Bal REDDY (FIJ)