Fiji’s under-17 soccer team faces its first major hurdle in its bid to qualify for the World Cup U-17 Championships to be held later this year.

After demolishing American Samoa 9-0 in their first world cup qualifying match on Saturday, the Hussein Saheb coached side face Papua New Guinea at 1.30am at the North Harbour Stadium on Monday, January 10.

And Saheb, himself a former Fiji national star, is aware of the pressure his young sides faces.

Since arriving in New Zealand on December 28, the team has had three warm-up matches – against Papatoetoe Lautoka U19 (won 6-1), vs Auckland Selection (won 3-0) and vs Mangere United (2-2).

Saheb told the Indian Weekender the players were in good spirits and keen on getting a winning outcome.

After the PNG game, Fiji face New Zealand on Wednesday. This could prove to be one of their toughest matches of the tournament, especially as New Zealand would be feeding off the success of their senior side at last year’s World Cup in Italy.

The Fiji side is camping at Tamaki College campus in Glen Innes.
Here's full draws:

Group A
08/01/11 13:30 Vanuatu Vs Papua New Guinea
08/01/11 16:00 American Samoa Vs Fiji
10/01/11 13:30 Papua New GuineaVs Fiji
10/01/11 16:00 Vanuatu Vs New Zealand
12/01/11 13:30 Fiji Vs New Zealand
12/01/11 16:00 Papua New Guinea Vs American Samoa
14/01/11 13:30 New Zealand Vs American Samoa
14/01/11 16:00 Fiji Vs Vanuatu
16/01/11 15:00 American Samoa Vs Vanuatu
16/01/11 15:00 New Zealand Vs Papua New Guinea
Group B
09/01/11 13:30 New Caledonia Vs Solomon Islands
09/01/11 16:00 Tonga Vs Tahiti
11/01/11 13:30 Solomon Islands Vs Tahiti
11/01/11 16:00 New Caledonia Vs Cook Islands
13/01/11 13:30 Tahiti Vs Cook Islands
13/01/11 16:00 Solomon Islands Vs Tonga
15/01/11 13:30 Cook Islands Vs Tonga
15/01/11 16:00 Tahiti Vs New Caledonia
17/01/11 15:00 Tonga Vs New Caledonia
17/01/11 15:00 Cook Islands Vs Solomon Islands
3/4 Playoff
19/01/11 13:30 North Harbour Stadium
 

Final
19/01/11 16:00 North Harbour Stadium