Solomon Islands Football Federation announced a list of 31 players for a provisional squad for the upcoming friendly matches in the next FIFA window – the Bonitos are set to play three friendly matches in Lautoka, Fiji against the hosts, the Fiji U-20 side and Vanuatu national team. You can check the full list by clicking here.
“The players are selected from the TSL 2022/2023 season. Five overseas players who are available to represent the country next week in Lautoka are also drafted in the squad“, said SIFF in its social media post release – “This is a opportunity for the coaches to look at the players and how they compete in international football leading up to the Pacific Games on home turf in November. The door is still open for other players to be part of the extended squad in preparation for the Pacific Games 2023 and the coaching staff will continue to assess player’s performance in the country and abroad” also was mentioned.
18 players started training sessions in Honiara as soon as the Telekom S-League finished under the guidance of the Spanish head coach Felipe Vega-Arango. The national team head coach also spoke to SIFF Media in an interview about the undergoing trainings and players’ availability – watch the interview here.
Also in interview to local newspaper, Arango mentioned he will cut the list to 23 players before travelling to Fiji: “We are going to travel with 23 players in total. Out of the 23, three players are already in Fiji. So only 17 players will be travelling from Solomon Islands to Fiji because our three players that are currently in Fiji have confirmed to join the team. If Prince confirms his national duty then we will be travelling to Fiji with only 16 players. Prince is playing really good in Vanuatu for Galaxy FC, so I think he will be joining the team as well“, the coach also expressed interest to count on Ali Mekawir in the team: “We also had a conversation with Ali Mekawir in Dubai and he also wants to be part of the team“, he added.
Oceania Football Center 