The President of the Fiji Football Association, Rajesh Patel, says the national team proved their doubters wrong with a competitive showing against Wellington Phoenix at the weekend.
The Fiji senior team were beaten 2-1 in Suva in the first of two matches between the teams, with striker Roy Krishna opening the scoring for the home side against his club.
The Wellington Phoenix beat Fiji 2-1 in Suva. Photo: Fiji FA Media
The National Under 23 side also beat the Phoenix Premiers side 3-2 in the curtain raiser and Rajesh Patel says the results showed Fiji can compete.
"We also proved to the critics a lot of them wrong that Wellington Phoenix will run over Fiji national side but, no, it didn't happen. Our Under 23s were equally good and this is a good opportunity for us to go to the Pacific Games and see that, yes, we are equally competitive [against New Zealand]. This gave us a great opportunity and come Tuesday I think the Wellington Phoenix will be surprised by the results of the national team. The boys got it together in a short space of time - they kept on playing football but it was very good".
The teams will square off again in Ba tomorrow.
Fiji line-up before taking on the Wellington Phoenix. Photo: Fiji FA Media
