The Fiji under-16 Girl’s football team will be heading to Samoa on July 29 to take part in the OFC Under-16 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
Coach Marika Rodu views this as a significant opportunity for the young players to demonstrate their skills, apply their training, and strive for a spot at next year’s World Cup.
He believes that this competition is a great chance for the girls to showcase what they have learned and how they have grown so far.
With three weeks of preparation complete and going on a final week, Rodu acknowledges that there are still areas to improve upon.
Rodu says that some of the girls may progress to the U19 squad and eventually break into the senior women’s national team.
“For the girls it’s a start of their journey, a development for them, most of them will be going to the U19 team soon, and the senior women’s team, without these competitions the girls will not learn anything and get exposer,” said Rodu.
He sets out goals for the team, focusing on mastering the basics, connecting passes, and controlling the game to reach the semi-finals and final.
“It’s one of our goals is to train well and play well, making the basics right, connect passes, be in control of the game, these are a few checks list we have made for ourselves, if we do this right, we can make it to the semi-finals and final.”
Appreciation is extended to the parents for their support and to the girls for their dedication on the field during training.
Meanwhile, the Under19 Girls team is also gearing up for their own World Cup qualifiers in Tahiti in mid-August.
