Kurukuru’s head coach Damon Shaw expresses his dissapointment on Solomon Islands recent performances

Solomon Islands is looking to seal a spot in the upcoming 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup; if they do so this will be the 5th time the Kurukuru will take part in the most important tournament of this sport. To make this happen the team coached by the Englishman Damon Shaw will have to win once again the OFC Futsal Nations Cup – this time the tournament will take place in New Zealand this coming October.

Shaw’s team already played eight preparative matches for the upcoming regional tournament: two 5-0 losses to Vietnam, a draw and two narrow defeats to Australia and three heavy defeats in Thailand at Continental Futsal Championship – where they lost to Myanmar, Thailand and Mozambique.

Solomon Islands head coach Damon Shaw talked to Oceania Football Center and expressed his dissapointment on the recent performances of his team, but he also points to good signs the Kurukuru had shown in the previous friendly tournament: “We are obviously disappointed with the scores and the performances on the whole. We are pleased with the first 15 minutes against Thailand, when we showed that we can compete and should even have been in the lead“, mentioned Shaw.

According to the coach, fitness is one of the main issues that made Solomon Islands record heavy losses – including a 10-1 defeat to the home side Thailand, one of the best-ranked teams of Asian continent: “We need to improve our fitness to compete at this level over a full game or tournament but that is something that will take time and I believe so much in the future of this team“, he said.

“However, the aim is World Cup qualification and it’s been another valuable outing in our preparation for the OFC Futsal Nations Cup“, added the coach pointing the biggest goal for his side: “True champions show themselves after defeat and I expect us to bounce back in the next games before we go to New Zealand. The team is together and I know these boys will be stronger now“, said the coach, indicating the Kurukuru will have more friendly matches before competitive futsal in the main tournament.

Shaw, when asked if he has already a fixed team for the tournament, said that the best fit players available will be called-up: “I will take the best team that’s available, performing and fit“, said the English coach – “They know what is expected of them and if they don’t perform they know there are players lying in wait“, added Shaw stating that the players must step up and battle for its place in te final squad.

Around a decade ago Solomon Islands recorded a win against Thailand; this month the Kurukuru were completely unmatched by the Thai side – showing signs of a possible stagnation of the development of futsal in the country. “I don’t think we’ve stagnated, we’ll see the real progress when we play Australia and teams in the OFC. If you compare what the Thai players have had in the last ten years to what the Solomon Islands team has had, we are of course playing catch up. We need to ensure the next five or ten years are consistent and we’ll see progress against Asian nations“, mentioned the coach.

Shaw also stated the Kurukuru keep searching for tough opposition in order to improve its game with harder challenges: “We’re deliberately seeking the highest level opposition and will continue to do so, until we catch up“, he added.

Solomon Islands is grouped with alongside Tahiti, New Caledonia and Samoa in the OFC Futsal Nations Cup. The tournament starts on 1st October, held at Pulman Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.