BY ROMULUS HUTA
THE national under-18 futsal side’s departure for the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina initially planned for this Friday has been deferred for next week.
The new travelling date set for next week is yet to be confirmed.
Futsal is one of the few sporting codes picked to represent Solomon Islands in the third edition of the event that will run from October 6 to 18 in Buenos Aires.
The youngsters’ participation also marks the first time for a team sport to represent Solomon Islands in the youth olympic games.
Led by top goal poacher Raphael Le’ai, the young Kurukurus as they were known, qualified to participate in the youth Olympics after winning last year’s youth futsal championship in New Zealand.
The futsal competition will begin on October 7 and the under-18 side had been drawn in Pool B of the men’s competition going up against world heavyweights Brazil, Russia, Iran and Costa Rica. Head coach Stanley Puairana had named his final travelling squad of 10 players on Sunday.
Meanwhile, upon arrival in Argentina next week, the team is expected to play Pool A contestant Slovakia in a friendly encounter before heading into their first Pool B match of the tournament against Iran on October 8 commencing at 10am (Solomon Islands Time).
