U17 World Cup: When a dream comes true for Solomon Islands

Despite having some international tradition in futsal, Solomon Islands does not have a big relevance in football at international level, but this young talented generation can bring some glory to the country. The U17 National Team already made history by qualifying for 2019 U17 FIFA World Cup. Now they have the opportunity of their lives to make more and more history in Brazil and make their people proud of them.

That’s the first time ever that Solomon Islands is going to feature in a field football World Cup and there are lots of expectations sorrounding this squad. The bright football played in OFC U16 Championship opened some doors for players to leave their homeland and have some experience abroad. Three of the twenty one called up players are playing at youth level in New Zealand, something quite relevant when it comes to minor aged islanders.

Solomon Islands surprised everyone when they beat New Zealand in the U16 Championship group stage by 5-0. Since FIFA decided to secure two sports for OFC at the youth world stage tournaments, both New Zealand and Solomon Islands – teams who made the final of U16 OFC Nations Cup – qualified themselves for the U17 World Cup. In the final match they played at a good level, keeping the match drawn and losing only in the penalty shootout.

With this growing scenario in the background, Solomon Islands did not come to Brazil just to spend sometimes visiting one of the most beautiful countries of the world, but they are ready to face this challange and hopeful for making a decent campaign.

The U17 preparation for this World Cup started months ago when they went to Belarus to play UEFA International Development Tournament where they finished as runners-up after winning Moldova and drawing against Belarus and Kazakhstan. Great results for a Pacific Island football team.

They arrived in Brazil on 19 October (20 October in Oceania) and faced Oeste Academy in 2-all draw friendly in the last match before their debut against Italy.

KEY PLAYERS

Raphael Lea’i is the most important player of this squad. He was the MVP and top scorer of OFC U16 Championship and he was also the topscorer of UEFA International Development Tournament held in Belarus. With so many awards he called the attention of New Zealand side Wellington Phoenix. He currently plays for Scots College at high school level but he is already linked to Nix youth academy. Last year he had a trial in Godoy Cruz from Argentina but he could not sign for them because he was just 15 years old by that time. When asked about this World Cup, Lea’i answered “We will give our best in this world cup. I believe in our current team and personally I’m in the best time of my life and I want to do my best as well.” His good pace and dribbling can help Solomon Islands to surprise their opponents.

Charles Mani is another player that is on a scholarship on New Zealand at Long Bay College. He is linked to Glenfield Rovers, a team that competes in the Lotto NRFL Premier League. Mani has a huge responsibility on this team once he is the one who carries the captain armbrand. He scored four goals in OFC U16 Championship ending the tournament as the second Solomon Islands top scorer right after Raphael Lea’i. His inspiration comes from Brazil: “Neymar is my favourite player. He’s really skilful and a joy to watch. I love to make people happy when I play.” said Mani to Raw Sports Newspaper.

Leon Kofana is the most important player of Solomon Islands defense. He is Raphael Lea’i teammate in Scots College and he is also linked to Wellington Phoenix Academy. He has some quality with the ball and he is a physical gifted defender and it can help the Solomon Islanders against better technical teams in this World Cup. He also has good experience in Futsal just like Raphael Lea’i. Both players took part of the national futsal squad that played Youth Olympics in Argentina last year.

Another important player was Maxwell Keana but he was ruled out of the squad because he failed a medical test last month. A big loss for Solomon Islands midfield. Batram Suri’s son Aiden is also taking part of the squad. Forward Barie Limoki and defender Peteson Tongaka are the youngest players of this team, both were born in 2004.

Solomon Islands is in the Group F with Italy, Paraguay and Mexico. They are going to debut against Italy on 29 October at 7am (Solomon Islands time).

The other two matches scheduled for the team in the Group F will be against Paraguay on 1st November at 7am and Mexico on 4th November at a10am – both match times at Solomon Islands time.

Oceania Football Center will be in Kleber Andrade Stadium to watch in loco the match against Mexico. We wish good luck to Solomon Islands and hope they can really make more history in Brazil.