Tiny island nation bridging the gap
Tiny island nation gears up for World Cup qualifiers
For a team that has managed one competition since June 2016, the eventual start of the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament cannot come soon enough.
After losing to Papua New Guinea in June 2016 in a 2018 World Cup qualifier, Samoa have only had a flurry of games at last year’s Pacific Games. Three heavy defeats and a 2-0 win over Tonga were tough preparation for the World Cup qualifiers in 2021 but technical director Jess Ibrom is positive about the future.
“There is huge potential from Samoa to bridge the gap between other countries in the Pacific,” says Ibrom. “There are moments of sporadic success from these Polynesian countries and this is usually down to a solid preparation phase of training leading up to international fixtures or tournaments.”
Marooned in New Zealand due to the pandemic, Ibrom has been preparing for the qualifiers with online sessions delivered via two huge interactive TV screens. Around 80 per cent of Samoa’s squad will be drawn from the leagues on the two islands, Savai’I and Upolu, which have nearly 30 clubs and separate leagues.
Samoa’s overseas players are spread across New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Hawaii, and getting the team together can be difficult.
Striker Andrew Mobberley, who plays for Albany United on Auckland’s North Shore and has ten caps and two goals for Samoa, says: “Often the federation want players to be involved in camps leading up to tournaments. Because we aren’t professionals and have full-time jobs it is difficult to have enough time to come together and generate team spirit. That being said, Samoan people are very welcoming and even spending a few days with the team you feel as if you’ve been together for months.”
Many Samoans instead play rugby professionally overseas and Mobberley plays semi-professionally in NRFL Division 1, but making the step up to the full-time game is tough. He adds: “Football is a far more technical game than rugby and learning those abilities when you are young are key for your development. As players don’t receive the required training, by the time they are older it becomes far more difficult to compete with players that have. Therefore, making the leap into professional football is extremely hard.”
Ibrom is looking to change this and has the backing of the government in recognition of a sport that is outstripping both codes of rugby.
“In Samoa we have a more robust grassroots and competitions program than rugby,” says Ibrom. “The difference is that in football we need aspirational players that are playing at a higher level abroad. This way the younger players that are developing through the game have players both male and female they can aspire to follow.”
Ibrom is looking further afield for players who would provide the sort of role model that A-League and ISL superstar Roy Krishna did for Fiji. New Zealand Under-17 international Marko Stamenic, who has signed for Danish side FC Copenhagen, qualifies for Samoa and would be perfect if he could be persuaded to switch from the All Whites to the land of his ancestors for the start of World Cup qualifying.
“We need aspirational players that are playing at a higher level abroad” Jess Ibrom, Samoa technical director