Coach Gusmao to meet PNGFA technical team

By PATRICIA KEAMO
NATIONAL men’s football team head coach Marcos Gusmao says he will meet Papua New Guinea Football Association technical officials today before kicking off training with his 30-man squad tomorrow.
After a two-week break, the squad will convene in Port Moresby for an extended camp with Gusmao and assistant coach Bob Morris to resume preparations for the Fifa World Cup regional qualifiers in Qatar.
Gusmao told The National on Monday that he would be focused on training the squad as well as staging trial matches before trimming the group to 25 or 23.
“Technical director Paul Isorua and I will have a meeting today with our technical staff,” he said.
“On Thursday, I will make my presentation to the players and we will start our work in preparing for the qualifiers.
“The squad will convene for the camp.
“But some players, including Tommy Semmy and Gimale Essau, will arrive later.”
However, Semmy had told The National on Monday that he was yet to confirm his travel plans due to the Coronavirus travel restrictions in Australia.
Meanwhile, Gusmao said once camp started, he would be pushing the squad to train harder.
A trial match with a youth team, headed by Anthony Pakakota and Erickson Komeng, is scheduled for the middle of this month.
“I need to start soon and make players understand my style of play, given that we have less time to prepare,” Gusmao said.
“We have to be active and critical. By the end of next month, I’ll be trimming the squad to 25 or 23.”