Imtiaz Khan, coach of Fiji's national Futsal team, believes the pressure is off his side going into the OFC Futsal Championship Fiji 2009 which gets underway at Vodafone Arena in Suva tomorrow evening.
By Khan's own admission, the Fiji squad is very young and arguably less experienced than their more fancied opposition - namely New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu - and they had a disappointing 2008 campaign finishing fifth out of seven Oceania nations.
The hosts will therefore go into this year's championship with the underdog tag but Khan believes this could work in their favour.
"2009 is the start of a four-year cycle for us as we work towards qualifying for the FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2012," said Khan.
"For this week's championship, we've picked a group of young players who have a lot of potential but not as much experience as the likes of Solomon Islands who have already been to a FIFA Futsal World Cup. That means my boys can play without the weight of expectation hanging over them and hopefully cause some upsets in the process."
Fiji striker Kamal Hassan, who won the Golden Boot Award at the OFC Futsal Championship in 2008, is expected to star for the hosts.
Meanwhile, the Fiji Football Association (FFA) has extended a warm welcome to all of the teams and officials who have arrived in Fiji over the past week. FFA President Dr. M.S Sahu Khan says they are expecting large crowds at Vodafone Arena.
"All teams will have strong crowd support, not only from those who support excellent Futsal, but from their own communities in and around the capital city," said President Khan.
It is the second time Fiji has hosted the OFC Futsal Championship - an event previously held every four years but now run on an annual basis. President Khan believes the change of format is a step in the right direction.
"FFA fully supports this commitment by OFC to developing Futsal. And rightfully so, as Futsal has proved to be a popular means of conditioning players and providing a technical platform for the full outdoor football."
The OFC Futsal Championship kicks off at 6:00pm on Monday (Fiji Time) with the opening match between Fiji and Vanuatu.
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