Ba needs to find their way against Lupe o le Soaga

The only remaining Fijian team at OFC Champions League surely did not have the start they want in the tournament. The current Vodafone Premier League champions Ba were trashed by the New Zealand-side Auckland City by 6-0 in their opener in Tahiti for the group D of the regional tournament.

With only 16 players available for the debut, the coach Ricki Herbert was forced to make several changes in the team, including to use the attacker Darold Kakasi as a right back. From the 11 players that started the match, six were naturally forwards. Beniamino Mateinaqara – that recently recoverd from injury – would cause a huge blow for the team if he had any injury in the match, as Ba did not have a reserve goalkeeper in the bench.

The Fijians will need to win and win big against Lupe o le Soaga if they want to go for the final matchday against AS Vénus with clear chances to proceed to the next stage. The Samoans were also thrashed by 6-0 by the home side – the same margin of goals suffered by Ba – and theoretically they can not impose any real threat to the Fijian champions.

One of the most important signigs of Ba for the competition, Alwin Komolong, could not make his debut against Auckland City; the reasons are still not clear, as neither the club and player decided to talk about the situation. The Papua New Guinean international might be available for Ricki Herbert in the following match, as he was seem during the trainings for the upcoming clash.

Ba will need to find their way against Lupe o le Soaga, they will need to be focused and play hard against the Samoan side, always looking to move forward, moving constantly to make the Samoan defense – that proved to be fragile against AS Vénus – open up the gaps for players as Benjamin Totori and Micah Tommy to capitalize.