By Tupou Vaipulu Jr.

Kicking off the OFC Men's Nations Cup Qualifier championship, Tonga will face Samoa tomorrow, 20 March 2024 at Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku’alofa, Tongatapu.

Samoa’s coach Ravinesh Kumar said that Tonga has prepared well, and they are playing with a home advantage so it makes him wary of the team.

However, he has confidence in his team: “we are prepared to give our best performance in this competition to qualify for the Nation’s Cup finals.”

His captain, Andrew Setefano, well known as ‘the Joker’ said that he looks forward to tomorrow’s game against Tonga.

Although the Joker has had years of experience in playing against Tonga, he told Matangi Tonga that they can’t be too careful.

“I won’t say that it’s an advantage to be the most experienced player [because] I’ve been there before and it’s not easy” he said.

The games are unpredictable, especially when the coaches are changed from time to time, "every coach teaches the team a different style of playing".

Cook Islands

Meanwhile, Cook Islands, the underdogs of the competition are ready to be carfeful spectators at tomorrow's game.

Their coach, Jess Ibrom said "make no mistake, we’re here to win games of football, it’s as simple as that."

"We have a very good group of players –we have a good blend of very experienced players of some very good younger players that have got some tremendous potential,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tonga's coach Kilifi Uele said that if his players stick to their game plan, Tonga will have a huge potential to win the matches in this tournament.

Captain Hemaloto Polovili said having the home crowd will be a great opportunity that they need to win this tournament.

Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands will fight for a spot at the OFC Men’s Nations Cup 2024, which is set to be hosted at Vanuatu in June.

The Cook Islanders arrived in Tonga yesterday 18 March and Samoa arrived on Saturday last week 16 March.