Women’s football team gets backing from business house

A BUSINESS house has provided rations and merchandise to the national women’s football team as they kick off their bid to qualify for next year’s World Cup.
Goodman Fielder (PNG) brand manager Nancy Inai and national field manager Christian Lucas presented the rations and Skel Rice merchandise to the Papua New Guinea Football Association last week.
“We are proud to support the team’s bid to qualify for the 2023 Fifa World Cup,” Lucas said.
“They are role models to youths in the communities.
“Their consistent efforts are a testament to the pathway and development that PNGFA has for women.”
Inai said sports were an avenue for communities to practise healthy living, teamwork, commitment, dedication, perseverance and a winning mindset.
“These are some of the traits that are aligned to our Skel Rice values, and being an agent for change in communities,” she said.
“We wish the team all the best in their campaign,” Inai said recently.
Five-time Pacific Games gold medallists PNG will kick off their bid for World Cup qualification when they face Vanuatu in their Oceania Football Confederation Women’s Nations Cup opener in Fiji on Thursday.
PNG head into the Nations Cup as pre-tournament favourites, being the highest-ranked nation involved.
The winning team in Fiji will proceed to a playoff tournament which will be held in Auckland and Hamilton, New Zealand, from Feb 17-23.
PNG have been drawn in Group B alongside Vanuatu and Tahiti, who they will face three days after their opening match in the tournament.
The top-two teams from each of the three groups in Fiji will advance to the quarterfinals, alongside the two best-performing third-placed teams.
The final will take place in Suva on July 30.