The Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee president Joseph Rodan Senior has congratulated the Vodafone Fijian U20 team on a job well done.
This was after the Fijians beat Honduras 3-0 in one of the upsets of the FIFA U20 World Cup in Christchurch on Thursday.
Rodan said this has been something that football in Fiji has been waiting for, for a long time.
“This win and the U20 team’s participation in the FIFA U20 World Cup won’t be good for Fiji only, but for the Oceania region,” Rodan said.
“This will lift the standard of football immensely and this is something we have been waiting for, for a long time and our U20 team has given us that breakthrough.
“I really think they played well, they learned from their game against Germany and believed in themselves and you could tell they believed in themselves in this game against Honduras.
“But that confidence came to these boys at the second of half of their game against Germany where they managed to get a goal back.
“That is what they used to pull themselves through their game against Honduras. They proved that they are just as good as any other team and they need to keep believing in themselves and win the rest of the game.
“Sport really does bring people together because the whole of Fiji will be watching, even those who don’t watch football will be glued to the television.
“They have created history already by being in this prestigious event and they need to make the most of it and believe in themselves that they can make it past the pool stages.” Also congratulating the team was Fiji Rugby Union chief executive officer Radrodro Tabualevu, who expressed his delight in the U20 team’s achievement.
“We are very happy for the team and we really congratulate them for making Fiji proud for proving themselves on the international stage,” Tabualevu said.
“We truly wish them all the very best and I am confident that they can pull a positive result tomorrow.” Fiji plays Uzbekistan at 2pm tomorrow.
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