International friendlies in pipeline for young Kurukurus

By Taromane Martin

SOLOMON Islands national under 17-futsal team is awaiting confirmation from the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) to have international friendly matches in June.

The national U-17 squad, dubbed junior Kurukurus, will represent the country at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina this October.

Head Coach Stanley Puirana said the squad is waiting for confirmation from SIFF if they will head for international friendly matches in June.

Under-17 futsal top goal scorer Raphael Le’ai celebrates one of his goals with team mate Frankster Rukumana during last year’s qualifiers in New Zealand.

The friendlies are to be held overseas.

“Regarding friendly matches, our tour in June is still awaiting confirmation. Hopefully we’ll know the outcome next week,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Junior Kurukurus have been confirmed to take part in this month’s National Futsal League.

Coach Puirana said the squad has resumed their training in preparation for the upcoming competition.

He said they have been working on the team’s fitness and endurance for the past two weeks.

He adds once they get confirmation from the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) regarding the total number of players for the team then they will do the final selections.

“Once we get confirmation then we make the final selection, for the moment all of the boys are here training,” he said.

The junior Kurukurus won their ticket for the Youth Olympic Games after winning the 2017 Oceania U-17 Futsal Championship, held in New Zealand.

Discover more from Theislandsun

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading