The Oceania qualifiers will be staged from January 13 to 26 in American Samoa and Samoa with the winners set to book themselves a berth in Chile. Getting ready to contest that sole spot are the finest young players on offer from American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga and Vanuatu.
The 15th edition of the tournament is likely to be one of the most competitive yet and defending champions New Zealand are sure to face strong challenges from several of the other Pacific Island nations. Much focus has gone into the development of young talent across the Oceania region in recent years and youth academies have been established in a handful of OFC’s 11 member associations.
The pathways in place have already produced many players and some of these will be in action for their countries in American Samoa and Samoa, meaning the Young All Whites face a far-from-straightforward task in earning their fifth title in a row.
GROUP A – JS Blatter Field, Apia, Samoa
Cook Islands are led by coach Delaney Yagona and will aim to do better than their last place finish two years ago. Victory in the Preliminary qualifying event in Pago Pago led to scenes of joy but that turned to despair for the young Cook Islanders in Luganville where they lost all of their five matches. Drawn alongside heavyweights Fiji, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea makes their task even tougher. Their best result at this level was a 6-2 thrashing of Tonga in 2011.
Fiji is traditionally one of the stronger OFC nations at U-17 level and with their U-20 team eyeing up a FIFA U-20 World Cup campaign in six months’ time, Fiji will be all out to at least match their best placing at this age group level of runners-up, a finish earned in 1999. Fiji finished mid-table two years ago and will have to dig deep to emerge from the competition’s toughest section.
New Caledonia are tournament dark horses and have finished runners-up twice previously in 2003 and 2013. Coached by Kamali Fitialeata, New Caledonia also possess two familiar football family names in their squad list such as youngsters Sam Sinedo and Jean-Marc Kaudre.
New Zealand start the competition as red hot favourites to secure a fifth consecutive title at U-17 level and under coach Jose Figuiera will eye the sole World Cup spot on offer as their prime target. The Young All Whites have won 16 and drawn one of their last 17 matches at this level, their last defeat a 3-1 loss to Australia on 22 February, 2003, in Maroochydore.
Papua New Guinea’s best placing at an OFC U-17 event was third in 2001 when they finished as best runner-up in the group stage behind Australia. Although they finished as also-rans two years ago, Papua New Guinea’s propensity for causing an upset makes them an opponent worthy of total respect under coach Harrison Kamake.
Samoa are highly experienced as a tournament host nation and this gives them a much needed boost considering the quality and calibre of opponent they entertain at JS Blatter Field in Apia. This is Samoa’s first participation at the tournament proper since 2001 when they registered a thrilling 4-3 victory over arch-rivals American Samoa in their opening match.
GROUP B – Pago Pago Soccer Stadium, American Samoa
American Samoa coach Uinifareti Aliva has a difficult task despite home advantage but history shows his team has flourished at previous tournaments with their best result a 3-0 win over the Cook Islands in Apia two years ago at the Preliminary competition. Their best results after that were a 2-2 draw with arch-rivals Samoa at the same event with a 0-0 draw with Cook Islands in 2003 in Pago Pago a milestone for their nation.
Solomon Islands carry the hopes of a nation starved of football action since their federation went into a normalisation process. Coached by Jacob Moli, the Solomon Islands youngsters are eager to make their mark on the OFC U-17 Championship and follow in the footsteps of top quality players like Alick Maemae, Benjamin Totori and Henry Fa’arodo. Their best finish was runners-up to Australia in 1993. They’ve finished third on four previous occasions.
Tahiti have prepared for the OFC U-17 Championship thoroughly after competing in the Tahitian top flight – Division Federale – for the last 18 months. There the young French Polynesians have registered several victories and made a big impact on the domestic scene as they seek to become the first OFC nation outside of Australia and New Zealand to complete a full set of World Cup qualifications at U-17, U-20 and senior level. Coach Ludovic Graugnard is vastly experienced and will ensure Tahiti finish among the front runners come finals time.
Tonga have much to do to bridge the gap between themselves and the rest of the field. They were eliminated at the Preliminary stage in 2013 but did notch an upset win over American Samoa, a result that knocked their opponents out of the race for the main tournament on the final match day. This is Tonga’s first participation at the full event in four years.
Vanuatu switch hosting duties for that of visitors as they chase top spot in a competition they finished runners-up in 2005. Third place getters in Luganville at the last edition, Vanuatu may feel they can go at least one place better this time under coach Etienne Mermer. Vanuatu has benefited from two consecutive participations at the Youth Olympic Games Boys’ Football Tournament in 2010 and 2014. The OFC U-17 Championship may reveal just how much Vanuatu age group football has progressed.
The group stage begins on January 13 and concludes on January 21 with the top two teams in each section advancing to the semi-finals.
The semi-finals, third place and winner-takes-all final match is schedule for January 24 and 26 in Pago Pago, American Samoa.
The FIFA U-17 World Cup will take place in Chile from October 17 to November 8.
Coverage
OFC TV will provide daily highlights of each match throughout the duration of the competition. For OFC TV’s YouTube channel click here
OFC U-17 Championship American Samoa, Samoa, 2015
JS Blatter Playing Field and Pago Pago Soccer Stadium January 13-26
American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga and Vanuatu
For the full team lists click here
For the schedule click here