OFC U-16 Men's Championship Spot At Stake In Tonga

Hosts Tonga are joined by American Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, with the single group format leaving little room for error and one defeat potentially proving fatal to a side’s qualifying hopes.

Manu Tau’lau is part of the hosts coaching set up, with the assistant coach excited for his side to have the opportunity to compete on home soil.

“We’re very excited. We can’t wait to compete in this tournament. Everyone is ready and doing their best.

“The boys are doing their best and we’re not going to quit – we never give up. We’re looking forward to the games,” Tau’lau said.

Tonga will begin their campaign against Papua New Guinea, with Head Coach Matthew Witu keen for his side to hit the ground running.

“The boys are very excited to be here. They’re excited to play football.

“We have 2 or 3 players here that were in the squad from last year and they’ve been talking to the team, telling them to be strong. They have experience and our looking forward to the game and helping the other players,” he said.

The opening game on match day one sees American Samoa take on Vanuatu, with an opportunity for either side to strike first and put themselves in a strong position.

Garry Panagsagan is leading the American Samoa team and has also been able to call on players who have been on this stage before.

“Some of my players experienced last year and hopefully that will help the team fight at this tournament.

“The preparation has been really good. The players, the coaching staff are all ready, the game plan and strategy are already set and now we wait for the outcome of our first game,” the coach explained.

Across from Panagsagan in the Vanuatu dugout will be Etienne Mermer, and the Head Coach is fully aware of what will be required of his team in order to qualify.

“We’re so happy to be here but we’re aware that we need to perform here before we can look ahead to the next stage.

“We’ve been together for the last two months and we believe that the environment has been very good. We know with young kids, we need to spend more time with them and to help them be prepared for this kind of competition,” Mermer said.

Whoever does advance following this week in Tonga will find themselves in Group A at the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship in August, alongside Cook Islands, Fiji and Tahiti.

© Scoop Media