OFC – GUSMAO CALLS FOR SELF-BELIEF FROM PNG

Papua New Guinea coach Marcos Gusmao has called for his team and Papua New Guineans everywhere to believe in themselves ahead of their do-or-die showdown against New Zealand tomorrow.

Gusmao – whose team must beat New Zealand to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup – China 2007 – says he has identified weaknesses in the New Zealand team that his side will try to exploit but admitted that a miracle will be required to make the Papua New Guinean dream a reality.

“New Zealand has all the resources and they are the giants of the Oceania Football Confederation and have a very strong team. But no team and no player is invincible. If you look at the 1982 FIFA World Cup the best team – Brazil – lost. The Papua New Guinea people have a role to play tomorrow and I hope they can come out and support us in big numbers,” Gusmao said.

Papua New Guinea have conceded only one goal in the tournament but were guilty of missing a raft of good chances against Tonga through a combination of poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping by Mele Teukialupe Likiliki and Gusmao said the team would spend the bulk of today’s final training session ironing out these deficiencies.

“The players will give their all for Papua New Guinea tomorrow and we have spent much of the day with the strikers. I hope the missed chances against Tonga will be forgotten. It is possible we will change the way we play because New Zealand are much stronger than Tonga and Solomon Islands and we will need to mark them more closely if we are to have a chance.”

Gusmao will have a full strength team to select from and expected to rely heavily on the form of Jacqueline Chalau, Daisy Winas, Deslyn Siniu and Cathy Agunam if his team are to achieve the miracle victory they crave.

“Deslyn will be important for us because of her pace and physical ability. I think New Zealand are maybe not so quick through the middle as they are out wide with Riley and Percival, so we will see,” Gusmao added.

Gusmao hinted he may deploy Siniu as a lone attacker against the New Zealand defence of Maia Jackman and Rebecca Smith after watching Tonga’s Vasi Feke and Penateti Feke enjoy relative success against their higher quality opponents.

“I think we will have to make New Zealand run fast and Deslyn has this quality. But let us be honest and say New Zealand have the expectation to win this game. We will do our best and I hope the players take the opportunity they have to do well.”

Papua New Guinea will play New Zealand in Game Six on Match Day 3 at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium at 1:30pm PNG time. A draw will be enough for New Zealand to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup – China 2007. Papua New Guinea must win to achieve the same.