Set to take place at Lawson Tama Stadium in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara from 1-10 June, the tournament doubles as stage two of Oceania qualifying for Brazil 2014 and will see Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu battle it out to be crowned kings of the Pacific.
The winner will qualify directly for the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 while the four highest-placed teams will go on to contest stage three of World Cup qualifying – a round-robin, home-and-away play-off series concluding in March 2013. Each country has given themselves the best possible chance of progressing by naming strong squads, many of which contain players regarded as the best in the region and, in some cases, among the finest in the world.
As expected, defending champions New Zealand have been able to include the highest number of household names, and the degree of talent packed into Ricki Herbert’s squad is likely to cause concern for the All Whites’ title rivals. England-based professionals Ryan Nelsen, Winston Reid, Chris Wood and Tommy Smith have all been named, as have striker Shane Smeltz and the mercurial Marco Rojas, arguably the most promising player to emerge from Oceania in some years.
With potential Confederations Cup and World Cup campaigns on the horizon, Herbert is also clearly using the tournament to cast his eye over fresh talent and to that end has included a pair of bolters in teenagers Tim Payne and Cameron Howieson, making steady progress at English clubs Blackburn Rovers and Burnley respectively.
But the All Whites’ challengers have plenty of ability themselves, particularly the likes of hosts Solomon Islands, whose squad features the talismanic attacking duo of Benjamin Totori and Henry Fa’arodo, both heroes in their homeland and well known to the wider footballing community due to their impressive exploits for overseas-based clubs.
Totori, who has now returned home to star for Koloale, was a key figure for New Zealand champions Waitakere United in previous years while Fa’arodo helped Team Wellington finish runners-up in the recently-concluded ASB Premiership.
Fellow Melanesians Vanuatu have included cousins Brian and Jean Kaltack – two of the most exciting young talents in the Pacific – and also possess several seasoned campaigners in a squad that blends youth with experience. Defender Brian Kaltack’s potential is such that he spent time training with A-League outfit the Wellington Phoenix under the watchful eye of coach Herbert last season and appears bound for a long career at a high level.
Fiji have gone down a similar path by naming six members of the U-23 squad that came within a whisker of qualifying for the London Olympic Games alongside stalwarts Roy Krishna, regarded by many as the most accomplished striker in the Pacific, Alvin Singh, Taniela Waqa and Malakai Tiwa.
Papua New Guinea likewise have no shortage of talent, including on the coaching staff where former Australia boss Frank Farina is set to continue a reign that began at the 2011 Pacific Games, in which his side just missed out on a semi-final berth by goal differential. Farina has a handful of players from national club champions Hekari United – who became the first Pacific Islands side to win the O-League in 2010 – at his disposal and several of these, such as Kema Jack, David Muta and Neil Hans, have proven themselves to be among the most consistent performers in the Pacific’s premier club competition.
The francophone duo of New Caledonia and Tahiti are likely to be strong contenders for the top four as the former are the Pacific Games champions and Tahitian football is on a high after Papeete club Tefana finished runners-up in the 2012 O-League, which wrapped up with the second leg of the final last Saturday.
In Bertrand Kai, Cesar Lolohea and Georges Gope-Fenepej, New Caledonia’s Leg Cagous will have one of the most dangerous frontlines in Honiara while Tahiti goalkeeper Xavier Samin has a reputation as one of the safest pair of hands in Oceania.
At the other end of the spectrum, Samoa are very much the underdogs and qualified for the Nations Cup by winning stage one of World Cup qualifying as hosts last November. They face a big step up in quality and will look to the likes of Andrew Setefano, who has O-League experience with Hekari, Luki Gosche, Mike Saofaiga and the Hoeflich brothers, Joseph and Max, to help bridge that gulf.
The eight teams will compete in a tournament based on a league system with semi-finals and a final. Both semi-finals will take place at Lawson Tama on 8 June while the 3rd/4th play-off and final will be held on 10 June in front of a likely crowd of over 20,000.
Official squad lists available here
Official match schedule available here

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