HONIARA – Solomon Islands beach soccer bosses have opted for experience after naming seventeen players in its train-on squad for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Marseille 2008.
Samson Takayama, Gideon Omokirio, Fred Hale, Eddie Ngaitin, Joe Luwi, Gibson Hosea, John Morgan, Junior Eke, George Kwanai and James Naka form a solid core of players with previous FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup experience.
Naka, in particular, has established a reputation on the world stage as a deadly goalscorer and Bilikiki Boys success will depend largely on whether the diminiutive Kossa FC player can replicate the form he has shown of late in the DJ Graphics Beach Soccer "Road to France" Cup at DC Park on the outskirts of Honiara.
Naka is backed up by two defensive lynchpins in Gideon Omokirio and Samson Takayama both of whom play for the senior international team and Kossa FC in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) O-League.
Joe Luwi – Naka’s amiable strike partner for club and country – is another player who has graced the sands of Rio de Janiero more than once and is likely to find himself a crucial source of goals.
Seven were picked from the recent DJ Graphics sponsored competition at the DC Park.
This will be the third time that Solomon Islands has played at a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup following on from appearances in Rio de Janeiro in 2006 and 2007.
Bilikiki team manager Reuben Oimae says training for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Marseille 2008 will take place on Monday evenings from 16H00hrs.
"It is very good that we have a better facility to train at with DC Park. Where we used to train (at AI Park) is not ideal for preparing to play in a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and the Bilikiki Boys owe a lot to the support of DJ Graphics.
DJ Graphics has helped establish a beach soccer venue and local competition that is fast developing in its popularity and this can only be good for this form of football in our country," a Bilikiki Boys team spokesman told www.oceaniafootball.com
DJ Graphics has established a four team local competition called DJ Graphics "Road to France" Cup with potential Bilikiki Boys squad members divided up into teams that play in a league format before finishing off with a play-off series.
BILIKIKI BOYS TRAIN-ON SQUAD:
Gideon Omokirio, James Naka, Fred Hale, Samson Takayama, Eddie Ngaitin, George Kwanai, Joe Luwi, Gibson Hosea, John Morgan and Junior Eke. The new players are; Nicholas Muri, Michael Taeman, Henry Padaverana, Hickley Rence, Franco Ne’e, Augustine Anisi, and Gabriel Ramo.