Gap between NZ and Solomons women’s soccer teams too big – Batram Suri

Batram Suri, a name synonymous with Solomon Islands football, knew that all the skills his players had would not be able to stop New Zealand from winning OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifier in Apia on Monday.

He was not surprised when the Football Ferns found the back of the net almost a dozen time, winning comfortably with a 11-1 scoreline against his Solomon Islands side.

The win means New Zealand’s will represent Oceania at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in women’s football later this year.

The Football Ferns have now won their fifth Olympic ticket from Oceania.

He admits the gap in skills, knowledge and experience between the two teams was too much for his side to handle.

Suri drafted a game plan that focused on defence and keeping things tight during the full 90 minutes.

Speaking after the game, he said he was proud of his players who threw everything into the game, knowing full well that the difference between them and the Football Ferns lineup was too.

“Big credits to the girls,” he said to his players. “Though they gave everything for the match we can not match the professional players in New Zealand. Most of them were in the [2023 FIFA] World Cup and they know what they need to do,” he said.

“Though we lost I expected to be a big margin against us especially in the final. Still happy and the girls too are happy because we played in the final for the first time ever in the history of women’s football.

“To reach the final was our main goal. To be playing against such professional players the gap too is big. I was once in the professional stage and I know what to expect.”

Suri led his team to hold Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Games champions, to a 1-1 draw in their first game and also defeated 2023 Pacific Games finalist Fiji 3-1 in the semifinals.

He said he told his players to just tighten their defence, knowing New Zealand was going to try and score more goals in the second half.

“If we play open game they would have scored 20 goals. I understood they would try and double the scores,” he said.