THE Fiji under-16 women’s football team will face Tahiti in a high-stake opening match at the OFC U16 Women’s Championship today, knowing a win could set the tone for their World Cup dream.
Head coach Marika Rodu and his 23-member squad flew out to Samoa on Tuesday afternoon after four weeks of intensive preparation at the Fiji Football Academy in Suva.
Drawn in what Rodu called a “challenging pool,” Fiji must get past Tahiti, New Caledonia and hosts Samoa to qualify for the semi-finals.
“Obviously, the objective is to be in the final two and qualify to the finals and come out of the group stage winning the pool, leading the pool,” he said.
Only the top two teams from the tournament will qualify for the 2026 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
Rodu said Fiji had trimmed the squad from 25 to 23 players and balanced football with the players’ school commitments during their preparation.
“We trained in the afternoons. We didn’t want to overload them since they had school during the day,” he said.
“But they’ve turned up every day eager to train. That’s something special in this group.”
The team arrived in Samoa early Wednesday morning and ease into training that afternoon, followed by their final tune-up this afternoon in Samoa.
“These first few days will be about reinforcing our structure, how we play, how we defend, how we transition,” Rodu said.
He added that the focus would be on getting the likely starting XI sharp and confident.
“We’ve worked on tactical clarity and making sure each player understands her role in different situations.”
While the long-term target is to qualify for the World Cup, Rodu said they were staying grounded.
“It’s one game at a time. But we believe in the girls. They have what it takes.”
Fiji plays Tahiti today at 11am in their opening match.
