The 2013 event will be the Tiki Toa’s second successive appearance on the world’s biggest beach soccer stage and player-coach Teva Zaveroni is leaving no stone unturned in making sure his charges will be ready for the challenge.
The 36-year-old has named an initial training squad of 19 and most of those players were in attendance at the Fédération Tahitienne de Football technical centre in Papeete to learn the details of the Tiki Toa’s build-up to Tahiti 2013.
Several key developments are in the pipeline, including the completion of a new international-standard training pitch by September.
The facility is sure to get plenty of use as it has also been revealed that the Tiki Toa will play a series of friendly internationals over the coming months.
First up are three matches in October against Switzerland, who finished runners-up at the 2009 World Cup, before another three games against 2005 world champions France in February of next year and an international tournament featuring Brazil, the Netherlands and Japan.
In a further boost to the Tiki Toa’s prospects, Zaveroni and his management team will be assisted for brief periods by a pair of coaches with second-to-none credentials in the beach version of the world game.
Swiss national team boss Angelo Schirinzi, the man who led his country to that remarkable runners-up placing three years ago, will come to Tahiti next month to help prepare the Tiki Toa for their first batch of friendlies while plans are also in place for Ramiro Figueiras Amarelle, the captain of Spain, to work with the Tahiti squad at some point.
There is no doubt the involvement of the pair will be hugely beneficial as both have a raft of personal and team achievements to their name.
Schirinzi is a FIFA beach soccer instructor and took Switzerland, who had never even appeared at the tournament before, from nowhere to the 2009 World Cup final while Amarelle has twice been named MVP at the World Cup, in 2003 and 2008.
The Spanish star also has experience as a mentor after being involved in Ukraine’s campaign at last year’s World Cup in a consultancy role. He could not take to the sands himself as Spain failed to book their place, due in part to his absence from the European qualifying tournament through injury.
“Of course it’s strange being at a World Cup, saying ‘we this’ and ‘we that’, without referring to Spain,” he says.
“But once you get involved with a side, it always becomes ‘we’. I also coach youngsters in the 11-a-side game and I’ve worked with Poland’s and Belarus’ beach soccer national teams in the past too. At the end of the day, I enjoy studying the game and learning more about it, whatever team I’m with.”
Several of the players Schirinzi and Amarelle will work with are set to gain experience of playing in Europe after accepting offers to take part in the Swiss beach soccer league.
Zaveroni, Heimanu Taiarui, Jonathan Torohia and Tearii Labaste will play for the Sable Dancers club, of which Schirinzi is the coach. They are due to return to Tahiti in time to take part in the Tiki Toa’s upcoming friendly matches.
For more on Tahiti football go to www.ftf.pf

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