PREVIEW: What the coaches say ahead of OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers

New Zealand’s Football Ferns head into the Women’s Olympic Qualifier tournament as strong favourites to qualify for their fifth Olympic Games.

But head coach Jitka Klimková believes the standard of women’s football throughout the Pacific is rapidly improving, with increased emphasis on developing the women’s game, a legacy of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Speaking at the pre-tournament media conference in Samoa, Klimková said she had watched the Oceania teams at the recent Pacific Games in Honiara and had taken note of the rising standard of football in the region.

“I think we can make each other better if we have competitive games, and we know the gaps are getting closer and I can see the development,” she said.

“It’s a lot of work and passion that needs to be put in, but you can see the sport is growing and there’s huge potential for women’s football to grow and develop in Oceania.”

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Papua New Guinea (PNG) traditionally have been seen as the team best placed to test New Zealand.

Head coach Eric Komeng is playing down the pressure on his side.

“As a coach, you just have to have the confidence in the team, and New Zealand is the favourite, but we just have to compete and try and be at our best in every game,” Komeng said.

“Winning the Pacific Games gives the girls confidence and builds a winning side, but the Olympic Qualifiers are a totally different competition.”

Rivals Fiji have selected a young side, featuring several players who will compete for a place in Angeline Chua’s squad at the FIFA U-20 World Cup later this year.

“The aim is to give the younger players as much international exposure as possible. We take it one game at a time and have a task ahead to make sure we qualify top of the group. We know our opponents’ strengths and weaknesses,” Chua said.

The Fijians kick off their Group A campaign against American Samoa in the opening match of the tournament.

Tonga coach Kilifi Uele spoke passionately about the impact last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup has had on women’s football in his country.

“With the World Cup in our region, we realised how tremendous women’s football is going, and we need to be more active in our development and there is so much for us to work with FIFA and OFC,” he said.

“We need to change the way we coach and mould the players to be more competitive against New Zealand. So if we are reducing the gap, New Zealand will get better and push to a higher level at the World Cup.”

Tonga plays New Zealand in its opening match at 1pm (Samoa/NZ time).

Fiji and American Samoa kick off the tournament at midday with PNG and Solomon Islands playing at 3pm and hosts Samoa playing Vanuatu at 5pm.

Samoa coach Juan Chang Urrea says they see this opportunity as a blessing playing at home.

“We have only been taking it one day at a time and our mission is to leave it better than we found it,” Chang Urrea said.

“It’s about doing the little things and focusing on what we can control.”

Acknowledgement

This story has been provided by OFC Media.

Fixture

Game to be played on Wednesday February 7, 2024

New Zealand v Tonga
Apia Park, Apia, Samoa, 1pm (NZT)

Squads

Tournament draw

# indicates current FIFA world ranking

The top two sides from each pool will advance to the semi-final stage with each pool winner meeting the runners-up from the other group.

The winning semi-finalists will meet in a sudden-death final.

Match schedule

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