The players come from five of the country’s top clubs and AS Magenta is the best represented with nine. AS Mont Dore boast six players while Mouli Sport, Gaitcha FC and Hienghene Sport have one each.
The Overseas Cup will be held in Paris from September 22 to October 3 and is a biennial competition put in place for the national teams of French overseas territories to play against each other.
New Caledonia have been drawn in Group One and will meet fellow Oceania representatives Tahiti, Guadeloupe and Martinique, while Group Two is made up of French Guiana, Mayotte, Reunion and Saint Pierre et Miquelon.
Bourdoulous’ men prepared for the tournament with a week-long training camp at the Charles J. Dempsey Football Academy, based at the OFC headquarters at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium, earlier this month.
They played two matches while in New Zealand, notching a 1-0 win over Northern Premier League champions East Coast Bays before falling 2-0 to national league side Waitakere United.
Their last matches prior to that were in June, when they met A-League side Gold Coast United twice in Noumea. They beat their more illustrious opponents 3-2 in the first game but suffered a 1-0 loss in the second.
They have no other matches pencilled in before the Overseas Cup and Bourdoulous says they are looking no further ahead than their first match of the tournament.
“The first game is the most important because if you win it makes it more easy. It is very hard to come back if you lose.”
New Caledonia squad for Overseas Cup
Goalkeepers
Michel HNE AS Magenta
Amedee WABOULA Mouli Sport
Defenders
Benjamin LONGUE AS Magenta
Wilson FOREST AS Magenta
Loic WAKANUMUNE AS Mont Dore
Georges WADRENGES AS Mont Dore
Judikael IXOEE AS Magenta
Joris GORENDIAWE AS Magenta
Midfielders
Noel KAUDRE AS Magenta
Emile BEARUNE Gaitcha FC
Jean Patrick WAKANUMUNE AS Mont Dore
Patrick DIAIKE AS Mont Dore
Pierre WAJOKA AS Magenta
Marius BAKO AS Magenta
Cesar LOLOHEA AS Mont Dore
Forwards
Michel HMAE AS Mont Dore
Bertrand KAI Hienghene Sport
Francis WATRONE AS Magenta