Digicel National Beach Soccer head coach Jerry Sam says he has a very strong squad with a lot of potential in the players for the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup in Tahiti next week.
Sam said preparing the team in a short span of time was not a walk in the park for the national side.
“There was very little time for us and preparation for qualification is what all Oceania countries are looking forward to.”
“We don’t have enough time to prepare but I believe in the potential players I have within their experiences as football players and if they follow instructions then I believe nothing is impossible.”
“We have strong players who can hold the ball and we are trying to build the combination of understanding in the team we have.”
Sam highlighted some of the challenges the team faced in training on the technical aspect of the game.
“Some of the challenges like the technical ability of the game are what I try to emphasise and make sure they know because beach soccer is more different from 11-aside football and futsal.”
“We are working on individual players and the tactical aspect of the game that I work on with the players’ so they can know what to do in game situations.”
He added that changing players’ mindsets will be important ahead of their opening match against beach soccer giants the Solomon Islands.
“Competing against the Solomon Islands will be tough and it will be a big game. We trust in ourselves that we can compete and that’s the mentality we emphasise to our boys.”
“In competitions as such, our mindset has to be ready to compete. We will take one game at a time and our aim is to do well and hopefully, we can make it into the top two.”
A 12-member squad departs Fiji on Friday.
Fiji opens its campaign against the Solomon Islands on 22 August before facing Tonga a day later and hosts Tahiti on 24 August.
