13-year-old to feature for Samoan club in opener of Oceania championship

By JAMIE HARO
SAMOAN young gun Florencina Kalifa is excited to compete in the inaugural Oceania Football Confederation Women’s Champions League when Kiwi FC kick off their campaign against Fiji’s Labasa Women’s FC today at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium.
The 13-year-old said this would be her first outing in the club’s premier side and first international appearance.
“I started playing at the age of seven and that developed my passion to play football in my country,” Kalifa said.
“This is my first international match playing at the Oceania level and I am nervous and excited at the same time.”
Kiwi FC head coach Leti Tamasese said Kalifa was the youngest to be part of this historic tournament representing Samoa.
“Growing up, she played in our Under-12, U14, U16, U17 divisions for the club and sometimes for the U19 when we don’t have enough number of girls to represent,” Tamasese said.
“This year she earned her spot to play in the premier team. She plays as a striker and sometimes backs with the premier team.
“This OFC-sanctioned tournament is going to be a good experience for her given where the age that she started off playing, hopefully that will help her bring out the best in her first international tournament for her football career ahead.”
Tamasese said the team’s training session yesterday focused on defence and attack and would help the team switch to game mode in their first match today.