It was a much-improved performance by our Digicel Junior Boys despite going down 3-nil to USA at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Argentina yesterday.
A gallant defensive effort from the Bobby Mimms-coached Fijians saw scores locked nil-all at half-time.
Diego Luna, Cade Cowell and Caleb Wiley got the goals as USA overcame a valiant Fiji effort in San Juan.
The Fijians managed 22 per cent of possession and had two shots on target, something they could not achieve in the 4-nil loss to Slovakia in their tournament opener.
“I feel the scoreline doesn’t justify the tremendous efforts put in by the team,” Mimms said.
“We tried to stick to the game plan put in by the coaching staff and we managed to frustrate USA by keeping them scoreless for a solid 65mins. We will continue building upon this performance and improving in our next match. ”
Co-captain Abdullah Aiyas echoed Mimms’ sentiments, acknowledging that the team executed the game plan as desired, causing problems for their opponents.
Aiyas emphasised that the team demonstrated their ability to compete at the U20 level and expressed satisfaction with their overall performance.
“It was a much better performance from the lads who executed the game plan. Their remarkable effort made it challenging for our opponents to score goals throughout the first hour of the match. Eventually, their exceptional quality shone through, resulting in some good goals,” Aiyas said.
“We were delighted to see our team causing them difficulties in certain phases, particularly considering our initial nerves and feeling overwhelmed in our first match against Slovakia amidst the electrifying World Cup atmosphere. The team demonstrated rapid growth and proved their ability to compete at this elite level.”
USA play Slovakia while Fiji will meet Ecuador in their last pool games on Saturday.
