NEIL Adrakar gave every footballer a renewed reason to believe at the Nations Cup.
For sports lovers, he restored hope that Fiji had finally found a coach who genuinely understood the game.
As head coach, Adrakar did more than guide the team , he transformed it.
Armed with a simple yet powerful motto, “You can’t win together if you don’t work together,” Adrakar achieved what many considered close to miraculous.
Fiji won two matches during the 2025 campaign, defeating the Caribbean 2–0 and Ireland 3–2, and suffered a narrow 2–1 loss to eventual Nations Cup champions Japan.
Those results were praiseworthy by any measure.
Fiji had not won back-to-back matches in a highly competitive tournament for years, and the team appeared to be building momentum toward even greater achievements in the new year.
Yet despite the progress and renewed belief, Adrakar was not considered to continue in the role.
While it is understood that his appointment was for a single calendar year, results should always matter.
And if results are the benchmark, Adrakar earned the right to continue from where he left off.
Continuity, not disruption is how teams grow.
Progress in football is rarely instant. It is built on belief, structure, and trust over time.
Adrakar had begun laying that foundation, from improved scouting and higher training standards to restoring confidence within the squad.
Halting that momentum now risks undoing the very gains that were so hard to achieve.
Advertising for a new coach so soon suggests that the positives from the Nations Cup campaign have been set aside, replaced once again by a familiar cycle of reset and restart.
History shows this approach has done little to move Fiji football forward.
If football administrators are truly serious about long-term development, decisions must be guided by performance, vision, and progress not technicalities or short-term thinking.
In the end, what benefits the game and its players should outweigh all else.
Otherwise, the message is clear: in Fijian football, progress alone is still not enough.
