Sport: Fiji realistic ahead of first U20 Football World Cup
Fiji are taking a realistic approach to their debut appearance at the Under 20 Football World Cup.
Transcript
Fiji are taking a realistic approach to their debut appearance at the Under 20 Football World Cup.
With New Zealand hosting this year's event, Fiji qualified as winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament.
The Fijians were beaten by Mexico, Columbia and Hungary in warm-up matches over the past fortnight and have also toured Myanmar and Malaysia as part of their build-up.
Head coach Frank Farina told Vinnie Wylie it's all a valuable learning experience.
FRANK FARINA: Let's be brutally honest: Fiji has never played at this sort of level before against these quality teams. That's the reality - Fiji has never competed at a World Cup at any level - so for them to have these sort of preparation games against quality sides is really really good. I'm very happy with their progress at the moment and we've got to be competitive.
VINNIE WYLIE: And is that part of also qualifying for this Under 20 World Cup is obviously you get this amazing opportunity to be a part of that tournament but also, it's not just three games in the group stage - which could be all it is - but you've got all these other games as well which is teaching the boys
and giving them more experiences against top teams as well?
FF: That's the experience which is really lacking in Oceania. This opportunity for Fiji Football is absolutely fantastic. We're realistic - the World Cup is in New Zealand [and] most probably Fiji wouldn't have had this opportunity if it wasn't there so they've got to grab it with both hands and really run with it. It's been great - the experience these players are gaining from this and will gain from the World Cup will be really beneficial for the national team in future years.
VW: Since you took over the coaching duties for the team - or the head coaching duties - what have you noticed in terms of progress amongst the players?
FF: One of the things that I've noticed, and I've said it all along, [is] development programmes are lacking in Oceania, particularly in the Pacific Island regions, and also coaching - and that needs to be improved. In terms of the players, I think just exposure to different levels of football. Luckily for New Zealand they're exposed to it quite a lot, which is great, but countries like Fiji need to get that exposure as well - and they're getting it at the moment, which is absolutely fantastic. And you can see the improvement in the players: when they come up against good sides like Mexico and Columbia where there's no time on the ball, they've got to play it to a different level, and I can see the improvement so this is a fantastic learning curve.
VW: And that first game against Germany - they really give you a soft start, don't they? So what do you focus on now?
FF: It's completely new for Fiji Football that they're in this situation so we've got to get everyone ready and prepared for this first game because it's a baptism of fire, really, playing Germany first up but hopefully we can be competitive and do well.
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