Kapuls squad still open to players omitted from Fifa Series team: Coach

PAPUA New Guinea head coach Warren Moon says the door is still open for potential players to be included in the Kapuls squad, including senior players who were not selected for the Fifa Series starting on Friday.
Moon’s comments came after questions were raised on the exclusion of the Komolong brothers Alwin and Felix, David Browne and Raymond Gunemba.
He said the Komolong brothers along with Browne and Gunemba were still recovering from injuries but he would still consider them in upcoming training camps ahead of the OFC Nations Cup and the Fifa World Cup qualifiers later this year.
“The Komolong brothers are still recovering from injuries as is David Browne and Raymond (Gunemba) has come back from an injury,” said Moon.
“He’s (Gunemba) probably hasn’t had enough football yet where we would feel comfortable taking him away for this event.
“But with all those players, the door isn’t shut on them, obviously the important thing for us in 2024 is the OFC Nations Cup in June in Vanuatu and the World Cup qualifiers in the backend of the year, so we’re hoping to have plenty of choice and options to choose from come the time of the bigger events.” Moon said his pick for the Fifa series was factored around players who had the most game time in the last few months.
“We were looking to bring a squad that’s going to be ready to compete in a short term against two very good sides who have a lot of European players currently in their squad, so we factored in the players that have had the most football in the last few months,” he said.
He added that this was the start of a World Cup cycle where he was looking at young, fresh faces to rebuild the national team and take them forward for the next four-year cycle.
“We have a lot of good players, who are a bit out of season and it was probably not the right time to bring them.
“We’re going to take a closer look at those players in the camp in April and May,” said the men’s coach.