The Oceania Football Association have announced that the match between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands will not be played in Lae as was initially thought.
The match will be held at the PNG Football Stadium on the 13th of June at 3pm.
Earlier in the year, it had been announced that the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium would play host.
The announcement for PNG’s second city as host had come as a long overdue reward for the country’s biggest football fraternity in the Morobe Province.
Earlier in the year, residents in the city of Lae had been excited at the prospect of their first Men’s international football in decades. However, the change in venue, may not go down too well with supporters in the provinces of both Morobe, and Madang, who had been hoping to make the trip to Lae.
Nonetheless, the preparations for the PNG squad are going ahead as scheduled.
Still without international stars such as Browne and Dabinyaba, word from the camp is that the local-based players are slowly shaping up into a formidable unit with Serritslev satisfied that the NSL has started, giving his wards valuable match fitness against the Solomons.
The first match is scheduled for June the 9th in Honiara. PNG’s recent history against the Solomon Islands is a good one – two wins and a loss have given the red black and gold bragging rights over their Melanesian neighbours.
However, the latest news out of the Solomons, has seen them announcing an experienced and formidable outfit.
Micah Leaálafa, Moffat Kilifa and the ageless Henry Faárado all have been named.
With the call up also given to two former PNG-based players in Joachim Waroi and Tutizama Tanito. For PNG, it is expected that most of their international players will be available for national duties and will return for the full camp in two weeks.
