Although both semi-finalists have already been decided in Group A at the OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifier tournament, Friday’s third and final match day still offers plenty of intrigue with two fascinating encounters to be played at Suva’s ANZ Stadium.

New Zealand and Solomon Islands will gear up to next week’s knock-out stage in Lautoka by testing each other in a match with group honours on offer, while in the earlier kick-off American Samoa will face their Pacific cousins Samoa with bragging rights and pride on the line.

Although both team’s semi-final placings are secure, that will not reduce the desire of New Zealand or the Solomon Islands to deal a psychological blow to their opponents before the knock-out stage as well as claiming top spot on the table.

New Zealand are leading the standings due to their superior goal difference and coach Des Buckingham is keen for his players to build on their previous two outings.

“We just want to keep adding to our performances. We’ve said after game one that we want to get better, and after game two we want to get better for game three,” he says.

“Now that we have qualified for the semis, it’s all about preparing for next week which is what we aim to do during match three.”

There is a healthy competition for places within the New Zealand squad and every player is desperate to impress the coach.

Despite plenty of positive signs for his team, Buckingham is wary about the upcoming test.

“Solomon Islands are always a good team, and we saw it in the U-17s recently, they beat our U-17 team 5-0,” he warns.

“We know they have good players, we saw that at the Pacific Games where we came away with the gold medal, but again we will focus on us, we will be ready and we are looking forward to it.”
 

Solomon Islands is the only team yet to concede a goal in Group A but coach Batram Suri admits the New Zealanders will provide a much sterner examination than their two previous opponents.

“I know how tough it is to play against New Zealand, it’s going to be very hard but we have to challenge them,” he insists.

“We have to play against them with all the intensity we have, I believe we have got a few key players who can make a difference.”

Despite their challenge ahead, Suri is adamant the match will provide his side the perfect dress rehearsal for the knock-out stage.

“To finish on top of the group is not the most important thing for me, we have qualified for the semi-finals and that’s what matters. But we still want to play well against New Zealand and it’s good for us to get a game against them to see where we are at going into the semis,” he says.

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Match Details

New Zealand vs Solomon Islands
Friday 27 September, 6pm
ANZ Stadium, Suva

New Zealand (from): 1. Cameron Brown (GK), 2. Jordan Spain, 3. Dylan de Jong, 4. Hunter Ashworth, 5. Robert Tipelu, 6. Dane Schnell, 7. Myer Bevan, 8. Jake Porter, 9. Logan Rogerson (c), 10. Clayton Lewis, 11. Ollie Whyte, 12. Conor Tracey (GK), 13. Liberato Cacace, 14. Billy Jones, 15. Sean Liddicoat, 16. Gianni Stensness, 17. Callan Elliot, 18. Ben Waine, 19. Noah Billingsley, 20. Alex Paulsen (GK)
Coach: Des Buckingham

Story courtesy of OFC Media 

Article added: Thursday 26 September 2019