The Digicel National U23 football side is ready to face the Solomon Islands in today’s second semi-finals of the OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifiers in Auckland, New Zealand.
Despite having played one less game than their opponents, Fiji Head Coach Rob Sherman is keen to ensure the focus remains on his own side’s preparation ahead of the crunch encounter.
“In tournament play, time between games is limited so ensuring players are fully recovered and preparing to play a new opponent is always a fine balancing act, however, I feel we are in a decent space and ready for the game,” Sherman said.
“In many regards that is a matter of swings and roundabouts in that they have had one more game familiarising themselves with their team model which is advantageous but also one more game can cost in terms of energy expenditure which is a disadvantage.
“So given I do not have any idea of their recovery and preparation processes, we have just focused on our methodology and not considered that we have an advantage,” he continued.
With their opponents having won three from three in their group stage campaign, Sherman and his coaching team have been keeping a keen eye on the Solomon Islands with so much on the line.
“I have watched their games against Vanuatu and Tonga live and studied other footage. As a rule, in tournaments, I always analyse the opposition for every game. Obviously, that doesn’t mean they won’t change anything but at least as a coach you have some level of expectation,” he said.
With the preparations for all teams coming to an end, attention now turns to the action on the pitch with a place in Saturday’s final at North Harbour Stadium up for grabs.
OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifier 2023
Semi-Final 1
New Zealand v Vanuatu
Go Media Stadium Mt Smart
Wednesday, September 6 – 3:00pm
Semi-Final 2
Solomon Islands v Fiji
Go Media Stadium Mt Smart
Wednesday, September 6 – 7:00pm
