Tahitians arrive for Nations Cup

 By HENRY MORABANG
AS countries start arriving in Port Moresby for the OFC Nations Cup, Papua New Guinea national men’s soccer coach Flemming Serritslev believes his side can win the tournament on home soil.
The first to arrive were the Tahiti men.
Serritslev is aware of rivals Tahiti but he is optimistic his side will give their best against the French colony.
Tahiti coach Eddy Etaeta and captain Nicolas Vallar gave the thumbs up on arrival at Jackson’s Airport and are raring to go at the week-long tournament, which gets underway in Port Moresby next Saturday.
Attempts to speak to Etaeta were unsuccessful.
Serritslev is expecting stiff competition from Tahiti and New Caledonia but is adamant PNG were good enough to challenge for the title, especially if they made the most of their home ground advantage.
“It will be a tough and closely-contested tournament,” the 69-year-old former Danish international said. “In our group, we have the two finalists, New Caledonia and Tahiti, from the last Nations Cup and it is a mammoth task for the PNG soccer men’s team.
“However, our objective is to win every game and be crowned champions.
“It will be a big advantage playing at home and it’s our job to play and fight well to get the home crowd behind us.”
Serritslev selected the majority of his players from the two Papua New Guinea National Soccer League champion clubs, with 12 players from Hekari United and five from Lae City Dwellers in his final 23-man squad. The PNG coach was confident he had the right balance.
“I prefer fast and skilful players and these were the main principles in my selection criteria,” he said.
According to the updated arrival schedule for teams, the Solomon Islands will arrive today, while Vanuatu, Samoa, New Zealand and New Caledonia will arrive tomorrow and Fiji on Thursday.