BY ROMULUS HUTA
KOSSA head coach Eddie Marahare describes the recent tour to Vanuatu as a huge success and will help his players gain a lot of confidence for future competitions.
The tour was held last week and KOSSA played two matches against Vanuatu champions Nakultan FC at the Korman Stadium in Port Vila.
The matches were organised by the Ni-Vanuatu soccer club as part of their preparation for the upcoming Oceania club champions league group stage competition in Port Vila from February 10 to 16.
The group stage will see Nakultan play against Pool A contestants in the form of Ba (Fiji), Lae City Dwellers (PNG) and Tupapa Maraerenga of Cook Islands.
In the first friendly on Tuesday last week, KOSSA went down 3-1 and drew 1-1 in the second match on Thursday.
Marahare said during those two friendlies, KOSSA equally matched the level of Nakultan.
“In terms of club level, I believe KOSSA equally match the level of Nalkutan FC who has signed couple of players from other top clubs in Vanuatu, including James Naka, Nelso Sale & Joses Nawo.
“Overall it was a positive take for my players who played as a team for the first time outside of the country.
“Playing overseas at this level will help to build the confidence level of my players. For me, player confidence is vital ingredients to consistent performance on the field in games,” Marahare said.
Marahare said they returned with a lot of positives and that should help boost them ahead of the TSL championship series which would kick off on March 11.
The TSL Championship series was supposed to kick off last Saturday but organisers had it postponed for March due to request from few participating clubs citing lack of preparation.
The decision was reached in a meeting held Friday at the SIFF Academy.
Asked Marahare about his thoughts on the postponement, he said: “The postponement was made for the interest of those TSL clubs not ready for championship. To me, this is very bad for club/football management.
“However, given that we have more time to prepare, we will increase our training intensity to further strengthen our team’s fitness.”
