Solomon Islands midfielder Diane Justus says team’s debut appearance at the OFC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers – Papua New Guinea 2007 has been a worthwhile exercise despite some lopsided results.
It is the Solomon Islands first appearance at an OFC women’s tournament and the team has struggled to cope with the pace suffering two heavy defeats against Papua New Guinea (1-6) and New Zealand (0-8) but Justus says it is all part of a necessary learning curve.
“We have a lot of catching up to do and our inclusion at this tournament came as a surprise to us. The team was thrown together at the last moment and there was so much uncertainty. Then we had the tsunami. Two of our team have relatives directly affected by the tsunami so there have been a lot of things to think about,” Justus said.
Justus also says the Solomon Islands players should make the most of the opportunity to play in an OFC tournament. “Solomon Islands have never played at senior women’s level, only at age-group level, and I am very happy to be a part of this tournament. We can only try our best.”
Team coach Noel Wagapu was equally happy to be at the tournament despite the difficult results to date and the shadow of the tsunami disaster hanging over the squad. “This is our first time at a tournament so it is tough for us. But we have talented players that need more experience of playing at this level. We also have the 2007 South Pacific Games to aim for so we have to take what we learn here in Papua New Guinea forward to that tournament. The tsunami has effected one or two of the players as they are from the same region where it happened so we have had to take this into consideration.”
Solomon Islands opened their OFC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers – Papua New Guinea 2007 campaign with a 6-1 defeat against Papua New Guinea and an 8-0 defeat against New Zealand but Wagapu has been pleased with individual performances.
“Layda Samani has been good for us and Prudence Fula too. I am sure as we play more games over time we will get better. This tournament is about the opportunity to gain experience and play.”
Solomon Islands final match of the tournament will be against the rapidly improving Tonga team who were beaten 1-0 by Papua New Guinea.