VFF may have dropped Brian Kaltak, Jeffrey Tasso, Azariah Soromon, John Alick and Mitch Cooper from the Vanuatu senior men’s team to the Friendship Cup tournament in Fiji next week.
It has been very difficult to mobilize the senior players to form a team, and National Head Coach Etienne Mermer is doing his best to put a squad together this week.
“We are challenged by the fact that most players have not been playing since the suspension of our local league championship matches during our national Champions League program, and with the devastation of two cyclones, most of our players are affected”, Coach Mermer explains.
“But I do thank those clubs in Port Vila who have released their players to be part of a team that will form the team to represent the country. Since it is a last minute decision by VFF for us to participate, I strongly urge those players whose names are already on the list, to turn up for training as we are being booked to fly to Fiji on Friday (17 March)”, he says.
A technical meeting at VFF Haus this day discussed reports concerning Brian Kaltak and Jeffrey Tasso, and concluded that they be dropped from the team.
Kaltak is nursing a hamstring injury, while Tasso is being conditioned by his Australian club, Gawler Eagles FC, to play not more than one match in the tournament.
“Since VFF will be responsible for the travelling costs for our oversea based players, and considering that Brian is not one hundred percent fit to play, and Tasso to play only one match, we have decided that the two players are dropped from the team”, VFF Technical Director and Acting General Secretary Peter Takaro explains.
Meanwhile, Azariah Soromon who plays for Suva is also out on injuries for four weeks and cannot make the team. John Alick who plays for Solomon Warriors cannot make it because of issues with his immigration papers. Mitch Cooper, who is in Australia, has not responded to calls from VFF.
The VFF Technical Department is working on sending a 25-man team, including 20 players and 5 officials, to the Fiji Friendship Cup tournament. The team are booked to travel to Fiji on Friday 17 March.
The Friendship Cup tournament kicks off on Moday 20 March at the Churchill Park Stadium in Lautoka. Fiji are fielding two teams, including their national U20 squad.
Vanuatu will play Fiji at 5pm on Monday, after the first match between the Solomon Islands and the Fiji U20 team.
The tournament will end on Sunday 26 March, and the Vanuatu team will travel back on Wednesday 29 March.
The final list of players on the national team will be published on Thursday 16 March.
