Navua’s Battle of the Giants semifinal hero Brian Charitar says he was determined to help his team beat a highly fancied Suva side and book their spot in the final.
Charitar who turned 28 earlier this week and celebrated the special occasion in camp with teammates told FijiLive after missing two scoring chances in the first half; he entered the pitch after the break with much more focus and the urge to make amends.
“Not every player gets an opportunity to play the entire match in a tournament despite missing on scoring good goals so I’m so thankful to the coach for having faith in me.”
“At half time, I promised the coach that I would make the team proud.”
“I told him that this time I get the chance, I’ll score and that kept ringing into my head when we took the field. I just wanted to prove that if the coach has not replaced me with another player, I have to show my potential and prove why I should be given game time.”
“When I saw the clear opportunity, I told myself that it was now or never. It’s a win for all the boys because we have been in camp and everyone is working and has families.”
“We sacrificed a lot and that sacrifice was something we talked about at the break.”
While the goal which came through a header has boosted the confidence of the Tokotoko Back Road resident, Charritar said they aim to end their 18-year BOG drought against defending champions Labasa today.
“I feel that I can score more goals but for that, I need to be a little more patient with the ball. Sometimes I just rush into the game but that’s something I want to avoid.”
“Playing in the final is going to be a totally different expectation from playing in the semifinal. We have made mistakes in the previous game but we can’t carry them in the final. The whole team wants to win this tournament because we have worked really hard to reach the final.”
“Labasa is a strong team and they are a strong team. They have been doing better than us and they always turn to change the table around in the final. We know they will come out firing since they would also want to defend their title. I’m ready to give my all in the final.”
Southern Forest Navua will face Extra Supermarket Labasa at 3pm.
