Why these players? Auvray explains

The Fiji football team will use the Melanesian Spear­head Group Prime Minis­ter's Cup 2026 tournament as a stepping stone towards building a team for the future.

Fiji had won the MSG Prime Min­ister's Cup titles five times from 1988, 1989, 1992, 1998 and 2000.

Fiji head coach Stephane Auvray said managing player workload had been a key part of their preparations following the recent Extra Battle of the Giants tournament.

"We spent a lot of time on recov­ery because obviously there was the B.O.G and some players played five games since last weekend," he said.

"We were able to get three or four sessions in between with a little more intensity; but so far we are counting on those games to really get us going."

Auvray believes the tournament would give Fiji's younger play­ers valuable international exposure while helping identify a core group for future campaigns.

"I believe these young players have abilities.

"They have a mindset, they're hungry; they want to prove some­thing and they want to represent the country;" he said.

The French national said the squad was also selected with the upcoming Olympic Games Un­der-23 qualifiers in mind.

"So exposing those players from now, trying to expose them as well with Bula FC in the upcoming season, will prepare them for us to try to get that spot to go to the Olympic Games," he said.

Auvray admitted combinations may take time to develop, but be­lieves the team should begin to find its rhythm after the opening matches.

"We're going to use this compe­tition to make sure we pick the right players because for the next two or three years we want to com­pete with the same players.

"I think we will probably start to roll by game two or three."