A ‘massive challenge’ is how Fiji football head coach Rob Sherman describes their semifinal game against New Zealand at the Sky Stadium in Wellington.
By his admission, Fiji is a long shot, yet the team is ready to give their all.
Fiji’s amateur footballers who hold day jobs, will be up against professionals who play in the A-League and Europe.
Sherman’s team faces tasks and challenges in the all-important game.
“One of the big challenges is the boys aren’t hugely tactically aware when the boys play domestically, it’s just a chaotic game,” said Sherman.
The team has to come around the local football habits and play structured football if they are to take head on of what the sport calls the beautiful game.
Sherman said players adapt to tactical plans and style of play while being in the national training squad but slip back to old habits.
“Slowly and surely, the ones who regularly come in, adapt to a tactical plan and a style of play … but it is often two forward, one back, because when they go back to domestic football, it’s not always that tactically astute so they slip back a little bit.”
The get-together for the overseas footballers are big transition, they play far-competitive football only to find themselves out of place with Fiji footballers’ combination and style.
And given the local footballers play under different coaches, they’re what Fiji football is, technical and tactical shy.
While a pool of New Zealand footballers plays in Europe, A-League and elsewhere, five of Fiji’s final squad are based overseas, including Scott Wara, in the English seventh tier, and NSW pair Jerome Narayan and Leroy Jennings.
Fiji put themselves in the position following double draws against Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Oceania Qualifiers last year to book a semifinal match against New Zealand.
Had they topped their pool, they would have avoided meeting nemesis in the semifinal game.
Fiji has been in New Zealand preparing for weeks and has had dry runs against Auckland United Eastern Suburbs.
The 3-0, and 1-0 wins aren’t the best of results for Fiji as in a game of 3-30 minute halves Auckland City played its full strength team in the first period, a second string team in the second and the development team capped the last period.
The Eastern Suburbs wasn’t much of a competition, the team plays in the lower tier as Fiji barely beat them by a goal.
And given what the team New Zealand is, with marquee striker, Chris Wood who plays for Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League and has 18 goals and several others who play European leagues, Fiji needs to bring its A-plus game if they are to avoid getting beat at their own game.
The 2-time 1982 and 2010 World Cup qualifier will also look to make good on Fiji’s weakness during the 90-minute game.
“All our preparations have been focused on trying to limit New Zealand’s strengths and maybe capitalize on one or two of their weaknesses-if they have any,” Sherman said.
For Fiji, it would be a massive challenge but impossible is nothing.
“Obviously, it is a massive challenge, we’re up for it”, said Sherman.
