The team lost three consecutive matches at the Territories Cup against Martinique, Mayotte and Tahiti, before recording a single 16-1 victory against Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.
While their campaign in France is memorable for the wrong reasons, Les Cagous do have the advantage of having had international gametime since the opening rounds of qualifying, while the Solomon Islands have not played together since their 6-1 loss to New Zealand.
“It has been good preparation for us as we were able to play some games, four in total,” Moizan says.
And he will no doubt be boosted by the arrival of his overseas-based players over the weekend.
Georges Gope-Fenepej, Cesar Lolohea, Dominique Wacalie and Joel Wakanumune – who all play their club football in France – were present for the opening rounds of World Cup qualifying, including the 4-0 victory over Tahiti, but were not eligible for the tournament in France and Moizan felt their absence was evident.
“They are essential to our on-field plan and if we didn’t need them, we wouldn’t call them up,” he says.
“The need for their presence was proven before going, and it became more obvious at the Overseas Territories Cup, even if the men who played gave their all.”
Moizan believes the team played a lot better at the tournament than the results suggest and says the reasons behind their unsuccessful campaign in France are easily identifiable.
“There were mistakes that you cannot commit at this level. There were a lot of individual and collective errors. We didn’t hold on to the ball up front while in the back there was a lack of discipline and concentration.
“Therefore it is vital that the four overseas-based players are with us.”
New Caledonia remain strong challengers for the top spot following games one and two of the Stage 3 FIFA World Cup qualifiers – provided they can defeat the Bonitos who have the same objective.
The teams have not met since the 2011 Pacific Games, when goals from Gopes-Fenepej and Marius Bako led Les Cagous to a 2-0 victory in the final, and Moizan says his team will have to continue to play their game if they want to win.
“They are a very talented and creative team with good technical skills and when they play at home they are able to produce some good football as well. We will have to set the rhythm and create opportunities to score so we will need to be efficient in both attack and defence.”
Moizan says Les Cagous would be in an even stronger position if they had taken something from the opening match against New Zealand, but is hopeful the results in the latest round will fall in their favour.
“In this type of tournament with only six matches, there is not a lot of room for errors. The joker, if there is one, we already used against New Zealand,” he says.
“The two matches against the Solomon Islands will be the deciders. We absolutely have to win and we hope we will receive a helping hand from our friends Tahiti, who will host New Zealand.”

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