Men’s football team arrive in Sri Lanka for Fifa Series

THE Papua New Guinea men’s football team arrived in Colombo early yesterday and have settled in well into their final training sessions ahead of their Fifa Series opener against hosts Sri Lanka on Friday.
The Kapuls had a five-day training camp in Brisbane following their practice match against Queensland National Premier League Club Peninsula Power.
Head coach Warren Moon told The National yesterday that the camp and their campaign in the series were all integral part of their ongoing preparations for the OFC Nations Cup in July.
“This camp in Brisbane and now Sri Lanka has been an opportunity to look at some new players as we continue to grow the talent pool for our squad in preparation for the Nations Cup in June,” said Moon.
“We will come up against two very tough teams in Sri Lanka and Central African Republic over here and get a good gauge of the areas we need to improve as a team.”
The team begun their training in Colombo last night after arriving in the morning and will continue today and tomorrow to fine tune their preparation before Friday’s clash. Meanwhile, Moon confirmed PNG international striker Tommy Semmy’s unavailability for the series due to his club commitments.
“Our approach is going to be consistent with all our games I am trying to implement a playing style that’s identifiable with our team,” said Moon on his outlook for the Sri Lanka clash.
“We’ve been educating the players on this during our camp in Brisbane but it will take time as it’s something a lot of our domestic players have not been exposed to.”
The Kapuls will take on Central African Republic on Monday following their match with the hosts at the series.