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