Our Cagous players from the A selection are flying off this Tuesday, October 8, to the Fiji Islands. They will play their first match there on Thursday, against Papua New Guinea, in the Oceanian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. A meeting planned for a long time, despite the crisis shaking the territory.
One last preparation match to warm up. Our Cagous players from the A selection beat the Gaïca team this Saturday, 2 goals to 0 at the Numa-Daly stadium in Nouméa. A week after their draw against Hienghène, 2 goals everywhere. One last friendly confrontation, before leaving for Fiji and the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
First meeting for our Cagous, it will be this Thursday October 10, against Papua New Guinea.
Un match prepared for a long time, to be followed at 3 p.m. local time. “This is the tenth week of preparation, with three weekly training sessions and a match this weekend, a final confrontation with Gaïca. We will have one last session this Monday, before flying to Fiji”, reveals Johann Sidaner, coach of the New Caledonia team.
Some of the players who make up the team come from France, “that was the whole point of this preparation and this selection. Our goal is to have the best players possible. Part of the group plays in the national championships, so we have to succeed in integrating them. They say that good players integrate quickly and don’t need too much preparation to get along and understand each other, but that’s part of the difficulties.”, continues the coach.
Among these players who came from France for the occasion, Joseph Athale. He has been playing in Nationale 2 for two and a half years, with Olympique de St Quentin. “In France, the level is very high, it’s very athletic, disciplined and the mentality they have is that of winners”. The Caledonian will put his tactical evolution in the game to the benefit of the Caledonian selection. “This is also what motivated me to come back with everything that was happening in the country, we must give another image and wear our colors high”, continues the player.
The first confrontation will face the Papuan players. “It’s going to be a complicated match, especially in the duels. We also need to be strong collectively and not give up.”, adds Joseph Athale.
It must be said that the preparation was complicated, especially for the players who trained on the territory. “We haven’t had any official matches since the start of the year with the selection”, regrets Morgan Mathelon, player and member of the selection. We had to deal with training and friendly matches, played behind closed doors. “The coach tried to put everything in place to overcome these difficulties. We were very invested in training and friendly matches, the team gained confidence as the matches progressed.”.
A confidence that our Cagous hope to put to good use in these qualifications for the 2026 World Cup.
