19 May 2015

Sport: Fiji U20 footballers learning on the job

11:16 am on 19 May 2015

Fiji have continued their preparations for the Under 20 Football World Cup with a narrow 2-1 defeat to Columbia in Sydney last night.

The Fijians went in front through a first-half penalty but conceded just before halftime and the South Americans found the match-winner midway through the second half.

Fiji also lost against Mexico on Friday and head coach Frank Farina says it's all a valuable learning experience.

"Let's be brutally honest - Fiji has never played at this level before against these quality teams. First and foremost Mexico the boys performed very well and the 3-0 scoreline most probably wasn't really indicative of the game. We made two very bad mistakes for the first two goals, which were good in terms of working on those prior to the Columbia game and then against Columbia yesterday I was very very pleased with the way the team played and quite unfortunate, to be totally honest, to lose 2-1".

Fiji open their World Cup campaign against Germany in Christchurch next month.

Fiji Under 20s football coach Frank Farina.

Fiji Under 20s football coach Frank Farina. Photo: PHOTOSPORT