American Samoa lost to Samoa 10-3 in their second game of the OFC U-16 Championship Qualifier at Loto-Tonga Soka Centre in Veitongo, Tonga yesterday.
“This result was really unexpected,” said the team’s coach, Rupeni Luvu.
“I really didn’t expect the game to turn out the way it did.”
He was flustered with his team’s performance and said that lack of rest was one of the biggest factors in the players performance against Samoa.
“I think the day after the game they did not rest well,” Luvu pointed out.
“It showed with the way they played. Our players that played well were the ones that were well rested. We were able to take care of what hurt us in the last game, and that was cramping. We stressed to the players that they needed to drink a lot of water and they did, for that we are thankful 
to them.”
Gabriel Taumua scored two goals for American Samoa, and Peter Lauvao scored the third goal to make up the team’s finally tally. For Samoa, three players scored more than one goal each ¬– Falaniko Nanumea (3), Kawasaki Saofaiga (2) and Jarvis Filimalae (2).
After the Cook Islands and Tonga’s 0-0 draw in the second game, the final Match Day is a mere formality as none of the other three teams can overcome Samoa’s six points. Tonga, with two points from two games, can only max out at five, while American Samoa and the Cook Islands’ point total cannot go past four.
“We still have one more game to go, and we will take the bad from this game and try to improve on it for our final one against the Cook Islands,” Luvu pointed out. “I need our boys to finish on a high note.”
