What went wrong? Auvray tells

Poor execution of the game plan is the reason why the Fiji men's foot­ball team went down 0-1 to Vanuatu in the second round of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Prime Minister's Cup clash in Suva on Monday.

This was highlighted by Fiji football men's head coach Stephane Auvray.

Speaking after the loss, the French na­tional said Fiji's intention was to play for­ward, but the team relied heavily on long balls and direct play.

"I think we should have played more," he said.

"We were trying to play vertical. It was part of the plan. Unfortunately; there were too many long balls, too much direct play. We didn't find the half space enough. We didn't find the wings enough.

"The intentions were right in trying to play forward. However, the execution was way too straight and too direct. So, I didn't really like what I saw."

Despite the loss, Auvray said there were positives to take from the match, particularly the experience gained by younger players.

"There's a lot of positives. Obviously; trying to play forward instead of playing possession for two hours. Obviously, as well, we had two Under-19s and one Un­der-17 in the middle," he said.

"We lacked experience, but it's good for those players because they are challenged and they will grow faster and the players always gave everything until the end. So, we didn't go away tonight, but this is al­ways a positive."

Auvray urged fans to continue support­ing the team as Fiji develops its squad.

"This year, we're really trying to make sure everybody gets the opportunity and the expectations will be much higher go­ing forward. But this year, we want to give every player a chance to show what they can do, and then we'll move on."

Fiji faces Papua New Guinea (PNG) in their third match at 7pm on Sunday.

Today's fixtures (women)

• 4pm Vanuatu v New Caledonia
• 7pm Fiji v Solomon Islands