VFF futsal development officer Louis Dominique said the team has already been together for two months, with 14 players currently training as a pre-selection squad.
“We used to train once a month, but today we are training four days a week,” Dominique says.
“We have a young team and they have to make the effort and prepare well to play against the Solomon Islands, New Zealand and Australia. It is hard work but they are doing well so far in training.
Dominique says the nickname “Gideons” has developed from the biblical name with Gideon meaning, ‘he that bruises or breaks; a destroyer’. He believes the squad that is selected to represent Vanuatu will be players who will play hard to win in a good spirit of fair play.
He says in the past the futsal team has attracted some bad luck, but Dominique would like to leave that behind and focus on using sport to help educate players to live a healthy lifestyle.
Vanuatu have been drawn in Group B alongside Tahiti, Australia and an OFC Invitational side and exiting the group stage will not be an easy task.
The side has benefited from the availability of the futsal court at Teouma Academy for the past three weeks and are hopeful their preparations will prove fruitful come July.
The OFC Futsal Championship is being held at Trusts Arena in Auckland from 23-27 July with Australia and Malaysia representing the Asian confederation.
For more on Vanuatu football go to www.vanuafoot.vu

Share