Wave of Success
Riding to the finish line?
Wave of Success
Our wave of success has continued.
I’m not sure how to explain it. We’re 11 games into the 20 game season. We haven’t lost yet, have an 8 point lead on our nearest competitors (Vaiala Tongan), have a goal differential of 21, and have been simply amazing.
Aside from the single 4-4 draw we manged to eke out, we haven’t been in danger of losing — or even drawing — in any other match.
This is certainly not the start I was expecting when I came to American Samoa!
Defense
The crazy thing is that we probably owe a lot of this to our defense.
We don’t really have the best defensive unit in the league. We’ve given up 21 goals, which ties us for 3rd best in that department.
Of course, it could always be worse.
I credit most of our good defensive form to 18-year-old centerback Pama Fetuao, an extremely consistent centerback who has worked wonders for us on the back line. Fetuao has played well in every single match he’s featured in, and recently made his debut for the American Samoa national team, helping the team along to a 0-0 draw against the Cook Islands.
19-year-old Ioane Palepua, who also made his international debut against the Cook Islands, has been our other anchor at centerback. I’ve played him in almost every single game because of his dominating presence and consistent performances. In fact, I usually cringe when I have to take him out, worried that his replacement will wind up making silly mistakes to give up the lead.
Fortunately, that hasn’t quite happened yet, though it could be worse.
It’s sad to say this, but I can’t really credit much to our 17-year-old goalkeeper Penieli Atu. Atu has been anything but consistent, has a bad habit of blasting goal kicks straight to opposition players, and is a player I’m looking to replace. Incidentally, Atu also made his international debut in the same match against the Cook Islands.
Consistency
Otherwise, we’ve been the same consistent club — good at scoring goals, stingy enough on defense, and capable of playing extremely entertaining football when push comes to shove.
Toa Maile is now second in the league in goals scored with 17, only 1 behind Petu Pouli of Vaiala Tongan. By the way, I convinced Petu Poli to sign an amateur contract with us starting next season. Maybe we’ll go to a two striker system.
I don’t think we’re good enough to compete in the Oceania Champions League. However, I’d be shocked if we didn’t win the league this year.