Rodu calls for more exposure for footballers

VODAFONE Fiji under-23 coach Marika Rodu believes more overseas exposure is needed for the local players to match the standard of New Zealand football in the region.

This is after the Oly-Whites hammered Fiji 6-1 in the semi-final of the Oceania Football Confederation Men’s Olympics Qualifier tournament at Churchill Park in Lautoka earlier this week.

Fiji will face Vanuatu in the third and fourth place playoffs at midday at the same venue today while New Zealand and the Solomon Islands will battle it out in the final for a direct spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Rodu said their preparation period for this tournament was six weeks.

“The New Zealand players are well developed to play at a high level,” he said.

“That is gap that we will always find difficulty to breach.

“For that we need to think outside the box. We cannot afford to have our players focus on local football only.

“We need to send our players out of the country, probably to Asia or Europe and only then we can manage to breach the gap.”

Rodu said they would treat today’s fixture against Vanuatu seriously.

“There is one more game but it is not a formality,” he said.

“We want to maintain our status in the Oceania region. For me personally the match against New Zealand was the most challenging because we had to dig deep in terms of our character and values as a team.

“The boys put up a good effort but New Zealand was stronger at the end and we need to congratulate them.”

Matches today: 12midday Fiji-Vanuatu; 3pm New Zealand-Solomon Islands.