Oceania nations release squads

Several national teams in Oceania are preparing to play friendlies in what will be one of the most hectic international windows in recent times.

Vanuatu training — The Vanuatu players training in Honiara ahead of the match against the Solomon Islands (Photo credit: SIFF Media)

UPDATE: Now including the Fiji squad, see lower in the article

Over in the Solomon Islands, the Bonitos will host Vanuatu on Sunday 17^th before travelling to play Chinese Taipei away a week later.

Both sides have released their squads for the fixture and Vanuatu’s new Head Coach Paul Munster has chosen a small squad for his first outing, with only 14 players named.

“We came with a tight list and expect to grow the team in the coming weeks preparing for the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa”, he told the VFF website.

“It is more about seeing the boys play in person and I want to assess them and see what levels they are at”.

Vanuatu squad v Solomon Islands — The Vanuatu squad for the game against the Solomon Islands (Photo credit: screengrab from the VFF website)

As for the Solomon Islands, they have had their squad ready for some time, but will be without their assistant manager Eddie Marahare who has left his position to focus entirely on the Henderson Eels Champions League campaign.

That means that all the responsibility will fall on Moses Toata and the remaining backroom staff to get the job done.

Solomon squad for Vanuatu — The Solomons squad for the matches against Vanuatu and Chinese Taipei (Photo credit: SIFF)

Fiji set to host three-team tournament

Fiji will host a mini-tournament which includes themselves, New Caledonia and African team Mauritius. The Bula Boys will play New Caledonia on Monday 18^th and Mauritius on the 24^th, while the two visitors will play each other on the 21^st.

Fiji will be bringing in a new face with Canadian-born, and German-based, Nico Prashad set to make his debut. Other than Prashad and Wellington Phoenix superstar, Roy Krishna, they have not confirmed their squad at the time of writing, but Fiji FA CEO Mohammed Yusuf says it will be a young one.

“We have a very young side as most of the players are from the national U23 side with some senior players and inclusion of Prasad is a boost for the team,” he told the Fiji FA website.

Fiji squad — Fiji’s squad for the matches against New Caledonia and Mauritius (Photo credit: Ola Bjerkevoll/Football in Oceania)

New Caledonia, on the other hand, have chosen their squad and it is quite a small one for Coach Thierry Sardo. However, the 18-man squad is a strong one with names such as Roy Kayara in there.

Sardo says this squad will be the core of the team going to the Pacific Games in Samoa in July and he also hopes that some of the France-based players can make the trip when that time comes.