The Digicel national women’s team will be leaving our Fiji this Friday for the Pacific Women’s Four Nation Tournament to be played in Australia next week.
Fiji FA chief executive officer Mohammed Yusuf said this was an initiative by Football Australia.
“Football Australia has stepped in to help Papua New Guinea Women’s team in its preparation for the FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers so they have set up a four-nation tournament in which PNG, Solomon Islands, Australia U20, and our Kula Girls will take part in,” said Yusuf
Yusuf said the offer came in late but they were happy to be part of the tournament.
“Actually Vanuatu was invited to the tournament which is fully paid for by Football Australia they opted not to participate and give chance to our Kula girls,”
“The offer just came last Sunday as a result our Digicel national women’s team is in camp and preparing under the guidance of national head coach Flemings Serristlev,”
Yusuf said they managed to get the squad together with 18 girls in the camp.
“We managed to get 18 players in the camp with two more players joining in in Australia,”
“We have Vanisha Prasad and Tima Yawayawa who are leaving in Australia and will join the team making a 20-member squad.”
Yusuf confirmed US Based Trina Davis was not available due to injury.
“We have the same squad that featured in the OFC Nations Cup with Davis and a few missing but the coaches have found their replacements and are working with them,”
“It is an opportunity for our girls to showcase their talents and who knows some of them may catch the eyes of other coaches and get an opportunity to get a contract overseas,” said Yusuf
Meanwhile, Serristlev said he was happy to guide the team for the tournament.
“I have been with the girls during the OFC Nations Cup so there is no problem because I know all of them and they have gelled with me,”
“I will work on their fitness this week and we will have a few days in Australia so yes we will prepare well and our aim is to take revenge with Papua New Guinea,” said Serristlev
“The girls are all in good shape and looking forward to the tournament as we will play the Solomon Islands, PNG, and Australian U20 side and we will take a match as it comes,”
He said it was great because the tournament was played in FIFA Window.
“It is a great opportunity for us to improve our rankings as we will play round matches in the FIFA Window,” said Serristlev
Participating Member Associations will be based in Canberra, utilizing high-performance training facilities at the Australian Institute of Sport, for the majority of the tournament
Matches will be played on a round-robin basis, before an additional day of finals, giving each team access to a minimum of three, but up to four, competitive matches during the tournament, including one against an Australian U-20 Women’s National Football Team
The last match day will be played in the Sydney metropolitan area, at a stadium venue to be confirmed.
Football Australia will cover airfares, accommodation, training facility hire, and meals for all Participating Member Associations (PMA), for 25 pax per team, for the duration of the tournament.
The tournament will be played from 5-15 November.
