HONIARA – Hekari Souths United FC of Papua New Guinea will face the Solomon Island Olympic squad this afternoon in the first of two matches the touring side will play.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 5pm this afternoon after a delayed arrival time forced a changed kick off time.
A curtain raiser match between women’s teams will start the day’s proceedings before the main match kicks off.
Hekari plays Marist on Saturday in what is expected to be a tough match between the two teams.
About five local players contracted by Hekari will be featured in their two matches. They are Jack Samani, Abraham Iniga, Brian Feni, Joachim Waroi and Benjamin Mela.
Jacob Pekau has picked up an injury and will not travel with the team to Honiara. He will be replaced by Marist defender Arnold Keni.
Marist head coach Patrick Miniti confirmed that Hekari team management has requested the services of Keni and Bilikiki beach soccer goal keeper Fred Hale.
The Solympic team is confident of a positive result against Hekari and are excited for the match.
Team manager, Robert Gerea said they are maintaining the same team that beat Vanuatu recently in the Telekom Wantok Cup.
The Solympic team has been in camp for a night in preparation for the match.
“I felt it was important that we go into camp for the final part of our preparation before we play Hekari,” Gerea said.
The Solympic team manager however, admitted that he did know much about Hekari and respects them.
“They are a quality side on paper and the Solympics respect them for that, however, I believe we have an upper hand going into this match based on our recent results against Vanuatu and Bonito,” he added.