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We face tough task, says Solomon Islands coach [Fri Sep 2nd, 2005]
Solomon Islands coach Ayrton Andrioli said he would have liked five months, rather than four weeks to prepare his players for the biggest match of their lives against Australia on Saturday night.
Brazilian Andrioli is preparing his unheralded team for their two-legged World Cup qualifying series against Australia in Sydney on Saturday and in Honiara next Wednesday.
He only started work with the Solomon Islands on August 3.
The Solomons recorded one win and two losses in New Zealand recently in their first games since losing 11-1 on aggregate to Australia in the two-legged OFC Nations Cup final last October.
"We've been concentrating on trying to get a team together, and prepare the team mentally for this occasion," Andrioli said. "Everybody knows it's a huge responsibility. In the Solomon Islands, no-one talks about anything else.
"Those players are not exposed or used to this kind of occasion, but we've been trying to make sure they are focused and able to concentrate, and take this opportunity and play the game of their lives, because this is the biggest game they've ever played.
"Its much better to be out of Honiara at the moment, because people over there, in their naivete, sometimes say 'we're just going to go and beat them', and to some extent they believe that.
"Having the team away from that, its better for us to concentrate and get the team to gel together as a group. If we can make sure these players are prepared and focused and able to play for 90 minutes and maintain concentration, we're just hoping that on the day that we'll be able to perform and give Australia a difficult task."
Andrioli noted it was a different scenario to June 2004 when the Solomon Islands held Australia to a 2-2 draw in an OFC Nations Cup match in Adelaide.
"That team had more time to prepare," Andrioli said. "For the team to have a realistic chance, you need to prepare for five months, and playing games and all that, that's out of the question, we do not have that.
"But football today is not just about tradition, its not just about the shirt, amazing things have happened before and we've got dreams and we've got hopes. We're not kidding ourselves, we know the task, how difficult it will be."
Lack of preparation time apart, Andrioli said there was little in the way of facilities and resources at his disposal and was critical of the Solomon Islands administration.
"They did not prepare the way they should, they knew well in advance that this was coming and they could have put something together," Andrioli said.
"As far as going and getting the money and resources they need, the problem is they left it too late."
He felt the recent appointment of Guus Hiddink as Australian coach was unfortunate timing for his team.
"He's probably one of the best coaches in the world, everyone knows him. I think its going to be a boost for them," Andrioli said.
AAP
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