Kekei Soccer Club player, Demosol Manama, is grateful to the Moukele Beach Soccer Association for giving him an opportunity to shine this season.
This follows after Kekei claimed their first beach soccer title following their 9-6 win over Waikiki in the MBSA Grand Final over the weekend on Fisherman Island.
“Being introduced to this pilot project has helped me be the best version of myself as a footballer,” Manama said.
“I’ve been playing normal football for a while, however, since beach soccer was introduced on the island, it changed everything for me and I’d like to thank the PNG Football Association for bringing this sport to our island.”
Only two seasons after the project took off, Moukele became the first association to send a national team known as PNG Paewas (Sharks) to the 2024 Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Beach Soccer Men's Nations Cup in the Solomon Islands this year.
Manama was privileged to make the final squad and traveled to Honiara to compete against the powerhouses like Tahiti, Fiji, and hosts, the Solomon Islands.
PNG created history on debut as Manama scored the first and fastest goal in international beach soccer history during the 2024 OFC Beach Soccer Men's Nations Cup in just 1.5 seconds when the kickoff whistle blew.
The Paewas opening match also stunned the football community when they defeated Fiji with an 8-6 win on their debut.
“It was my first time playing in another country. I was nervous but also lost for words when I scored that first goal,” Manama expressed.
“Returning from that tournament, me and two other fellow teammates within the Kekei SC used our experience to help our team perform well in our local competition.”
Manama said the young boys in their local team were inspired and had to train extra hard to make it as far as the finals.
“We encouraged the boys to play and use a few techniques of what we learned in the Solomon Islands and continued from there to train extra hard and work our way into the grand final,” he said.
“It has helped us gain more momentum since its inception and we are all grateful.”
PC: OFC Media
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