Courtesy: Solomon Stars News


Kurukuru flying

Tuesday, 17 June 2008

DEAR EDITOR - It is a dream come true for the Kurukuru players to now be part of the World Cup Family.

I have been for the past week watched the OFC Futsal Championship, which is also the Oceania Futsal World Cup Qualifiers, here in Suva's Vodafone Arena.

What can any other spectator say? The Solomon's Kurukuru is just the best. They deserve to be titled as the Oceania's BEST when it comes to Futsal.

The President of Fiji Football Association, during his speech at the short medal presentation even dubbed the Kurukuru as "Brazil Alike" type of play.

The Kurukuru only needed three points from their final game against Tuvalu after Tahiti defeated Vanuatu 2-1 in the opening game of the day.The boys finished it off in style with a 12-0 win, over the winless Tuvaluan side, and earned a birth at their first ever FIFA Futsal World Cup.

The boys, youngest team in the tournament, yet very skillful and talented in ball handling.
When it comes to age, it is fun to see how these bunch of youngsters play around with folks who are way older than them, with their smooth play, accurate passes and very skillful dribbling.

Players like Elliot Ragomo, James Egeta, Jack Whetney and Micah Lea'alafa quickly gain the attention and favour of the spectators with their spectacular performance and surprises.

They are magnificently organised in both attacking and defending, for which I would like to applaud the coach, Victor Wai'ia and his officials, for a brilliant team/game planning and administration.

Not only that, but the boys also showed a high level of discipline both on and off the court.

On the court, with exception of Jack Whetney's 2 yellow cards and Alick Lioka's red card, they really minimise committing fouls, unlike other the teams who have high marginalised foul plays.

Off the court, from close observations, they are so submissive to their officials. The probability of them bumming a cigarette or a beer is just zero.

The performance of the Kurukuru was also credited to the support of hundreds of Solomon Islanders studying and working in Suva, who really showed to the other countries the Solomon Islands' version of support.

In the final analysis, the Kurukuru really did their best here in Fiji, and it results in their achievement. I also hope SIFF has also received glory for this achievement, despite being reluctant to help spend a single cent for the squad to finance the cost of their preparation and the tournament itself.

Go Kurukuru Go, fly higher with the Solomons flag.


BRIAN MANGI
USP
Suva, Fiji





Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com