Vodafone Fijian football coach Flemming Serritslev says our players are strong and could do better in the sport.

Speaking from Nadi yesterday, the 73-year- old said that he’s looking forward to working with the coaching staff in trying to raise the standard of football played in the country.

The experienced Danish national will map out his plans when district teams are given the green light to start training.

“We’ve had two very successful training camps,” he said.

“I’ve also been following the district teams here as much as possible as well as the local tournaments and the Champions League.

“So I’ve an overview of players right now but when it’s about planning for the World Cup qualifiers, it’s actually impossible to do that since we don’t know when the clubs are allowed to start their training.

“I feel there are stronger players here, they are good but I would like them to do better.

“I really want to raise the speed of the game to a higher level- making it much faster.

“It’s a topic that I will raise in a meeting with the district coaches when this lockdown is over.

“At the moment if we want to compete at international level, we need to be able to play much faster than what we’re doing.

“It’s really my aim, together with everyone here in Fiji who are involved in football, to be the best team in the region.”

Meanwhile, Serritslev is unhappy about the cancellation of the Oceania Football Federation (OFC) Nations Cup that was scheduled to be held in New Zealand in June.

Serristslev coached Papua New Guinea to the final of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup where they lost to New Zealand in a penalty shoootout.

He said this one would have been a great opportunity towards the World Cup preparations.

“I’m very sorry that it was deemed necessary to cancel the Nations Cup, because it exactly showcases Oceania football and it would have been a very good preparation for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers,” he said.

However, he is in contact with players regularly and will await Government’s decision on the restriction of sporting events.

“There are only two players that I could not reach but otherwise I’m speaking to them.

“Fiji is a wonderful country with nice people. I really enjoyed being here even though we are not in contact with anybody. I know it will be much better when this crisis is over,” Serritslev added.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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