he Nations League concept has
been enthusiastically adopted
in Europe and the CONCACAF
region, where previously inactive
national teams are playing more
regularly. And now the Oceania
Football Confederation wants to join in.
If the plan works out, OFC Nations League games
will be a huge boost for isolated Pacific countries
such as the Cook Islands.
On 4 September 2015, the Cooks lost a decisive
2018 World Cup qualifier to American Samoa and
missed out on a first-ever place in the second stage.
After winning their first two games, against Tonga and
Samoa, the loss was heartbreaking. Worse was thatthe Cooks have not played a single game since.
“I think it’s disappointing for the playing group and
of course detrimental to progression, but it’s the reality
of the situation for most of these Oceanian nations,”
says their ex-manager Drew Sherman, a Welshman
who is now general manager at Melbourne Victory.
The Cooks can hardly just nip across the water to a
neighbour for a friendly as the nearest FIFA member
is Fiji, which is 2,354km away.
Sherman accepts that travel is not easy but
believes that the lack of games is partly due to
the Cook Islands FA (CIFA). He explains: “Ultimately,
CIFA, as the governing body, have to make a decision
on whether the investment into playing games is
worthwhile and they don’t feel that it is.
“Overcoming that mindset and trying to raise thelevel of professionalism was one of the hardest
challenges I was faced with.”
Sherman left after the qualifiers and was briefly
replaced by Kevin Fallon – father of New Zealand
international Rory – before another Briton, Jess
Ibrom, took over as technical director.
Ibrom lived on Rarotonga for 21 months, during
which time the male national team did not play a
game. There was success at female junior level with
qualification for the semi-finals of the OFC Under-16
Girls’ Championship and this, says Ibrom, shows what
can be done.
“We won back-to-back international fixtures for the
first time. This was a result of six months of consistent
planning and training,” explains Ibrom.
“The senior team needs to
play more regular fixtures and
make sure they are involved
in every up-and-coming
tournament as this will
result in greater buy-in.
“Like anywhere, it also
comes down to the desire
of people to drive it forward and keep players
interested in the sport.”
Ibrom’s successor, Kevin McGreskin, arrived this
April but the male footballers did not go to the Pacific
Games in Samoa as their FIFA ranking was deemed
too low by the national Olympic committee.
With any senior male internationals unlikely until
the 2022 World Cup qualifiers next year, McGreskin
is taking the national team to New Zealand for a
training camp and four matches against local clubs.
The Scotsman has also launched a global talent trawl
to try and find more players.
His predecessors did the same and he is realistic
about what he expects to find, admitting: “Some of
the players playing overseas are not professionals
and can drift away from football.”More games needed
OFC Nations League offers new hope for internationals
Vietnamese side to win the AFC
Cup ASEAN Zonal crown, beating
local rivals Becamex Binh Duong
2-0 on aggregate in the Final.
BRAZIL: Gabriel Jesus is banned
from international matches for
two months after being sent off in
Brazil’s Copa America Final victory
over Peru for actions considered
insulting and defamatory.
CAF CHAMP LEAGUE: Esperance
are declared African Champions
League winners after Wydad are
deemed guilty of abandoning the
second leg of the Final when they
left the pitch after an equaliser was
disallowed by VAR. Esperance were
leading 1-0 in the second leg at the
time and 2-1 overall.
DR CONGO: Having led the
national side to three consecutive
Africa Cup of Nations tournaments,
Florent Ibenge quits as DR Congo
coach after five years in charge.
Thursday August 8
CYPRUS: APOEL replace coach
WORLD SERVICEWorld record...Harry MaguireT
Local...action from
a domestic fixture“Of course it’s detrimental to progression,
but it’s the reality of the situation for most
of these Oceanian nations”
Drew Sherman on a lack of international gamesCook Islands
STEVE MENARY