GRATITUDE is what filled Fiji under-16 men’s football player Arnav Chand as he reflected on his team’s 2-1 victory against Tahiti in their opening pool game at the OFC Men’s U16 Championship 2025 on Sunday.
Chand played an instrumental role in the opening clash, making Fiji’s first goal in the 19th minute during the match.
Speaking to OFC Media after the match, he said the performance shown by the team was “pretty good”.
“The game was pretty good and the boys never gave up, the tabu soro spirit as we say, but as a collective, I’m very proud of each and every one in our team,” Chand said.
“The support of the fans, it’s amazing.”
He added Fiji’s first goal thanks to a header set up by his teammate Jarryd Mario which was caught by Saula Muatini who delivered a through pass to Chand to score the goal.
Sharing what he thought were the key highlights for him in that game, he acknowledged the concerted effort put in by his teammates.
“The key highlights is like, the first one is, you never gave up, everyone put 110 percent on the pitch,” he said.
“Communication was on peak, everything was in line.”
While he reflected on their strengths, he also shared areas he thought the team would need to improve on.
“But obviously, there’s some things to iron out in training, but there’s some more and more good things to come,” he added.
The support of all those who came to watch him play and eventually make the goal did not go unnoticed, and Chand thanked his parents for flying to the Solomon Islands from Australia to do so.