Preparations on track, says Fiji women’s football coach

Preparations of the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup Oceania qualifiers are on track.

This was confirmed yesterday by Fiji women’s football head coach Nicola Demaine as the tournament will be played in Ba later this month.

“Things are going really well in camp,” Demaine told Fiji FA Media.

“We’ve got 22 players and everyone has their fitness assessed, so we’ve started our fitness programme.

“The girls have been doing endurance training, they were in the gym and we’ve also had some really good on-field sessions.”

With limited time before the qualifiers, Demaine says, the focus has been on simplifying key aspects of play.

“We don’t have a lot of time, so we’re keeping things nice and simple. We’ve been working on how we want to play, when we build up from the back, and this week we’ll focus on how we’re going to defend. Finishing is something we work on every week.”

Demaine said the response from the players has been encouraging.

“They’re responding really well. There’s a positive feeling around camp right now and the players are buying into what we’re trying to do.”

She also highlighted the physicality and leadership within the squad.

“I’m really happy with what we’ve got here. The physicality, the mindset, and the way the older players are helping the younger ones has been really pleasing. I think we’ve got something really good.”

Demaine said the squad would be boosted with the arrival of their overseas-based players.

“We’re hoping to get some overseas players joining us as soon as possible, maybe sometime next week,” she added.