Editorial: If the heart is willing, making it to the Olympics is possible
Our players took time to settle down and within a space of six minutes the Kiwis scored three quick goals to hold a handy 3-0 lead at halftime.
Monday 04 September 2023 | 09:33
Our Fiji Under-23 football team has made it to the Oceania Football Confederations (OFC) U23 Championship semifinal. They could face either Solomon Islands or Vanuatu on Wednesday.
This means the Rob Sherman-coached Fijian side is only two games away from qualifying to next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The current Fiji U23 team has players from the Fiji U20 side that played in the recent FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina.
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This tournament has been a tough one.
The Fijians suffered a 3-1 loss to favourites and hosts New Zealand in their Group A opener, last week.
Our players took time to settle down and within a space of six minutes the Kiwis scored three quick goals to hold a handy 3-0 lead at halftime.
But it was all Fiji in the second half as they managed to pull a goal back but missed numerous goals scoring chances.
This simply proves that the Etonia Dogalau-captained side has what it takes to win this tournament and make it to the Olympics for the second time.
Yes, our Fiji U23 side made it to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, so why can’t this team go for a repeat.
Anything is possible if the heart is willing.
The onus is now on our players to make it happen in Auckland.
On the same note; the Fiji Football Association should be out negotiating and creating a pathway for our U23 players so they could play professionally overseas.
It’s heartening to see a handful of players on trial with the Australian A-League clubs.
And with Englishman Sherman as our U23 coach, he could assist us in connecting our boys with his former clubs of Cardiff City, Swansea City and Hull City to try our players.
It’s time for Fiji FA to break away from the old tradition of producing our players only for district level competition.
Football today is seen as a career path by most of our football talented youngsters who may struggle academically.
Let’s not deny them a bright future by shelving their God given talent but instead assist them to make their mark in the football world.
This is the way to go if football is to grow.
Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj
