The Junior Bula Boys are embracing the underdog tag as they prepare to face Spain, Morocco and China at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Head Coach Stéphane Auvray acknowledges that Fiji is not among the favourites in their group but believes teamwork, fighting spirit and commitment will be key to competing against the highly rated sides.

“Motivation is really high. It has to be looking out for each other, has to be a fighting spirit and really have a big team spirit. We know that what we are going against, we know that we are far from being the favorites in our group but as long as we do our best and as we work for each other this is our strength.”

Auvray states that while the team still has areas to improve in its development, he has been impressed by the players’ potential, motivation and willingness to learn.

He is urging the young players to give their best, enjoy the World Cup experience and take pride in their performances regardless of the results.

There’s a lot of potential and you can see that with a different kind of development from a very young age those guys will be more ahead than where they’re at so I was impressed with the amount of potential and abilities that there is.”

“I’m also conscious that they missed a few steps in their development and this is what probably today could be detrimental for us but yeah there’s a lot to do here. Well I want them to grow as people and as players. Again as I said we know we’re playing Spain, Morocco and China and we are not at their level yet. It does not prevent us from giving our best and I want the players to learn this.”