The Prime Minister presented the players with new shirts and the national flag in Port Vila Stadium at the weekend ahead of their flight out to Santo, where the tournament is being held.
“I am proud to be here to present these new football jerseys to you,” Carcasses Kalosil said.
“On behalf of the government and the people of Vanuatu, I take this opportunity to wish you all the best in the competition. It is not going to be easy, but remember that we will support you all through to your last game.”
Vanuatu Football Federation CEO Albert Manaroto said it was an honour to have the country’s prime minister come down and show his support for the young side.
“We want to acknowledge the support of the national government in this initiative. Without the government we would have been unable to host next week’s competition in Santo.”
The Etienne Mermer coached side arrived in Santo on Tuesday and have been quick to continue their preparations for the tournament, where victory would assure them a ticket to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates later this year.
The side gave Chapuis Stadium’s second field a workout when they took on Luganville club champions Santos FC in a friendly build-up match in front of more than 300 supporters.
The U-17 national side took the lead in the first half following a Ruben Frank strike, however the home side managed to hit back an equaliser 15 minutes before the final whistle.
“This is our first match in Luganville, Sanot and a win, loss or a draw is ok for the boys because we don’t want to see any players injured before the competition,” Mermer says.
“Our focus is on the competition and we have another friendly here in Luganville on Saturday before we meet Papua New Guinea next Wednesday.
“The boys played well but we missed a lot of chances in front of the goal but I believe they will learn from those mistakes and we will work hard to help them ahead of the match against Siaraga FC on Saturday.”
For more on Vanuatu football go to www.vanuafoot.vu

Share