BY ROMULUS HUTA
AS Magenta coach Alan Moizan has rated hosts Marist as the team to beat in the Group D actions of the Oceania Champions League here in Honiara.
Moizan, who is not new to Solomon Islands having led the senior New Caledonia side as head coach to reach the grandfinal of the 2012 OFC Nations Cup in Honiara, said they have a lot of respect for Marist in this upcoming competition.
“Marist will be backed by the home crowd and we expect them to be tough.
“We have a lot of respect for them and they are the team to beat.”
The Frenchman stressed that the competition is going to be tough but he is looking forward to a good performance from his team.
“We’ll play three matches and we are looking forward to them.”
AS Magenta will open their Oceania Champions League campaign on Saturday against Lupe Ole Soaga of Samoa at 1pm, Lawson Tama.
The match will be a rematch of their last year’s Oceania Champions League meeting where AS Magenta only managed to win by 2-1.
Moizan added that Lupe Ole Soaga is a good team and they fought very hard to beat them during their last meeting.
After taking on the Samoan outfit in the opener, hosts Marist awaits them next Tuesday at 4pm while their final match will be against Team Wellington next Friday.
Moizan outlined that they played three matches against Team Wellington in the past seasons losing twice and drew one.
Their last meeting was last year’s Oceania Champions League semifinal second leg where the NZ outfit won 7-1.
“We’ll remain focussed and that is what we are here for. We are hoping to win matches to qualify us into the quarterfinals.”
