Former Fiji football captain and Australia based veteran forward Esala Masi has not been considered for this month’s Pacific Games.
National coach Carlos Buzzetti confirmed Masi was still nursing a knee injury that has set his recovery time to an indefinite period.
Masi had been recovering well but a hit out on Friday afternoon at the Ba Academy saw his knee worsen.
“As of now, he is not considered for Samoa. He is definitely ruled out for the two All Whites game and we do not know at this stage how long it will take him to recover,” Buzzetti said.
“It is sad for him but the Pacific Games is very important, not just a tournament but the World Cup qualifiers and we need to take fit, injury-free players. Any injured players will not be
considered.”
Meanwhile all overseas-based players arrived into the country last night and joined the squad in their training session early this morning.
Buzzetti was impressed with the level of fitness they showcased and also applauded the local players for their hard work and determination to keep on improving.
“Ronil Kumar is the only player that is yet to join camp. He will be coming in this afternoon and joining training tomorrow.”
Buzzetti confirmed selecting the 20-member team for the first All White game would not be easy. He said for now, he was going to monitor each player’s performance in camp.
“I leave that until Wednesday afternoon before we travel down to Suva. I want the players to prove themselves until the last minute,” he said.
The All Whites versus Fiji game will be held at the Post Fiji Stadium on Friday night.