Vanuatu U-20 team led by Serbian coach Dejan Gluscevic is preparing to travel to New Zealand for three months of camping before heading off to the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea 2017.The team is expected to leave Port Vila on March 4.
Vanuatu have never previously qualified for any FIFA tournament.
According to the FIFA website, Vanuatu boast a strong record at youth level in Oceania – sitting behind only New Zealand and Fiji on the all-time U-20 list among active OFC members – and they finally turned that into a tangible achievement in 2016.
Playing on home soil in the September 2016 OFC tournament, Vanuatu looked solid in defence and with a cutting-edge in attack. Vanuatu were the only side among the eight-nation field to win all three group matches, following wins over Fiji, up-and-comers Papua New Guinea and the always competitive New Caledonia. They then displayed their resilience to earn a memorable 2-1 comeback semi-final victory over Solomon Islands in front of a large expectant home crowd and win their way to Korea Republic 2017.
The team for the FIFA U-20 World Cup are as follows:
Daniel AUGUST – Goalkeeper
Willie RICKY – Goalkeeper
Timothy Loic Messeck BOULET – Defender
Selwyn VATU – Defender
Tasso JEFFREY – Defender
Joseph Solo IARUEL – Defender
Gregory PATRICK – Defender
Abednigo SAU – Midfielder
Godine TENENE – Midfielder
Claude ARU – Midfielder
Frederick MASSING – Midfielder
Ronaldo WILKINS – Midfielder
Sylvain WORWORBU – Forward
Derrick Fidel BULE – Forward
Ben DENLY – Defender
Reginald RAVO – Defender
Philip LENCY – Defender
John Well WOHALE – Defender
Ollie BETHUEL – Defender
Azariah SOROMON – Forward
Jayson TIMATUA – Midfield
Johnathan SPOKEY JACK – Defender
Dick TAIWIA – Goalkeeper
The FIFA U-20 World Cup will be held from May 20 to June 11