The Suva Football Club will play its pool games in Luganville after being drawn in Group A of the OFC Champions League in Vanuatu in May.
Suva FC will meet defending champions Auckland City, Samoan side Lupe Ole Solaga, and Solomon Warriors from the Solomon Islands.
Club head Coach Maxwell Thaggard says all teams are champions in their pool.
“We can’t underestimate any team as they all are champions from their respective countries and likewise us,” said Thaggard
“It’s always good to be in a tough pool so we can have tough competition.”
Thaggard said they would treat all teams equally.
“We know the strength of Auckland City and Solomon Warriors but we are not underestimating Lupe Ole Solaga.”
“We go in the tournament as underdogs and will take each game as it comes.” said Thaggard
The former Nadi mentor says they will prepare for the matches accordingly.
“We will take our DPL matches as our build-up and will try to map out plans to face the giants in Vanuatu. We have been preparing for the OFC Champions League for the past two years.”
He draws confidence from the fact they have a settled squad.
“We have the same bunch of players who have been with the club for the past two years and I have faith in them,” Thaggard said.
He confirmed Vanuatu International Alex Senial will join the team after the Tri-Nations FIFA International Friendlies.
“Alex has been part of the system for the past two years and it’s good to have him back for competition.”
“We are proud to represent our country and we want to show our best to everyone,” said Thaggard
The tournament runs from the 14th to 27th of May with Pool A located in Luganville and Pool B in the Vanuatu capital of Port Vila.
It’ll be an exciting chance for Vanuatu to host a major OFC competition and the first time the nation has held a full OFC Champions League.
OFC pre-determined that home side Ifira Black Bird will play their group matches in Port Vila and was therefore drawn automatically into Group B. The other Group B teams are Hekari United from PNG, Tiga Sport from New Caledonia and AS Pirae from Tahiti.
Each team will play each other once in the group stage with the two highest placed teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals.
