U19 trials to kick-off

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THE Southern and New Guinea Islands leg of the national men’s selection trials for the Oceania Football Confederation Under-19 Championship, is scheduled for this week in Port Moresby, says head coach Anthony Pakakota.
This follows the conclusion of last week’s trials for Northern and Highlands players at the Papua New Guinea Football Association Education Centre at 11-Mile outside Lae.
Pakakota said 60 players would undergo the trials before a final 23-man squad was selected for Papeete, Tahiti, which will host next month’s tournament as a qualifier for the 2023 Fifa U20 World Cup.
He said due to the tight schedule and short notice by the confederation, the association began scouting players in late June as well as inviting its member associations to recommend their best players by completing individual technical assessments.
“We vetted these technical player evaluations and those meeting ratings over 3/5, we put them through for train-on assessment in the trial training camps,” Pakakota said.
“We received over 70 players (scouted and recommended).
“I trimmed it to 60. From the recommendations and scouting efforts, these 60 players were divided into two training camps. Moresby, Central Province and Australian-based footballers.” The Lae trials were attended by 28 players (two players couldn’t make it) from Mt Hagen, Wewak, Madang and Lae.
The Port Moresby trials will have players from Bougainville, Kimbe, Central and the nation’s capital.
“From there, we will further trim the group to a final 23-man squad who will be scheduled to travel on Aug 28.”