Vodafone Fijian foot­ball coach Chris­tophe Gamel has lamented the lack of “out­standing” players attend­ing national trials in prepa­ration for the OFC Under-23 Olympic qualifiers later this year.

The Frenchman, however, has been impressed with the attitude of the players in camp since January 7 at the Fiji Football Association Sahu Khan Academy in Ba.

“The level is average to low compared to the interna­tional requirements and we need to develop the players a bit more,” Gamel told SUN­sports from Ba.

“My expectations are that the standard player should be in line with the mini­mum of requirements at the international level, but at the moment very few are on track.”

Fiji, under then-coach Car­los Buzzetti, beat Vanuatu (4-3) on penalties to win the qualifiers in 2015, securing a historic first-ever appear­ance at the 2016 Rio de Ja­neiro Olympic Games.

The tournament, set for September 21-October 6 this year, will attract Oceania’s best teams, with New Zea­land ranked as the clear fa­vourites.

Gamel is hoping to as­semble his senior squad as quickly as possible before work to prepare the squad for the competition can be­gin.

“I am not training the 52 triallists, it is a trial, based on tests (mental, technical, tactics and physical) plus small sided games,” he said.

“The call from local and overseas players has been overwhelming and I did not expect so many. The mindset (towards joining the nation­al team) is now changing I guess.”

-Edited by Osea Bola

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