James Egeta: putting a smile in Solomon Islanders face

James Egeta is an important players of Solomon Islands National Futsal Team. The 29 years old player already played three Futsal World Cups (2008, 2012 and 2016) and will probably play his fourth in 2020. He started his career more than ten years ago and he played his first Futsal World Cup with just 18 years old in 2008.

Currently living in Brisbane, Egeta plays futsal in Australia, a country that has a good futsal culture. Kurukuru also made its preparation for 2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup in Australia where they played against local teams and faced Futsalroos (Australia National Futsal Team) twice. The difference of level between Australia and the best OFC countries in futsal are not that big but it can be felt not only in the players’ quality but also in the infrastructure – “Futsal in Australia got high quality in terms of good facilities, international court size and players training under good coaches […] in Solomon Islands there is no proper court to train in and there is no good facilities to support the training” said Egeta.

He took part of the Kurukuru squad that won OFC Futsal Nations Cup for the sixth time ever after beating New Zealad in penalties to qualify for 2020 World Cup. Egeta scored two goals in the competition, one against Fiji in the group stage and the another one in the final match against New Zealand. “I felt excited because it is going to be my fourth time in World Cup. I made my country proud and we put a smile on people’s face and we really need it. Our nation is being through a lot of things and this title is something that brings joy to every single person in the country and it makes me happy. I am not talking that people is suffering, what I mean is that our federation has been through hard times in terms of national football teams. We lost Pacific Games, beach soccer lost in World Cup qualifying and U17 National Team lost all three matches in FIFA U17 World Cup. So our victory brought a smile and hopes to people” he stated.

Egeta has an unique opportunity to play his fourth Futsal World Cup and he is very excited because of it but he also pointed that the journey has not been easy “New Zealand improved a lot and we need to work the extra mile to remain as Futsal Kings in Oceania. The final match against them was a great challenge. We missed lots of goal chances during the regular time so we had to end up with penalties”.

With all this experience and titles, Egeta is surely one of the greatest futsal players of Solomon Islands like George Stevenson and Elliot Ragomo. A true legend!