Manchester-based 18-year-old Oliver McFadyen, who shares links to Fiji, is eager to match up and make the cut into the final Fiji Under 19 squad for the Oceania Championship in Tahiti this year.
The Stockport FC attacker from England arrived in the country earlier this week for the national Under 19 trials told FijiLive, that he is expecting some high level of physical football.
McFadyen said he inherited football from his late grandfather John McFadyen who was a huge Suva football fan.
“My granddad was a Fijian which obviously makes me eligible to play for the Fiji national team so now he grew up in Suva I have lots of relatives and family out here as well.”
“John McFadMcFadyenyan- he unfortunately passed but had football at his heart.”
“There were few rugby players in Fiji like Nicky Mickey McFadyan but I guess I’m the first footballer in my family.”
McFadyan heard about the Fiji Under trials through his friend Peter Ravai who arrived in the country earlier this year and was part of the national team to Qatar.
“Yeah, I spoke to Peter quite a bit and he also told me about the trials and said if I was interested. He’s a good lad.”
“I was playing at Stockport County in England and I sent Fiji FA my highlight videos playing football in England.”
“A good friend of ours Aman Pillay, sent it over and was like communicating to Fiji FA and they invited me over for a trial so I got through.”
Upon arriving in Fiji, he began to train with the Lautoka football team who are preparing for the OFC Champions League playoffs.
“I came a week ago, got used to the heat because it’s quite hot and humid.”
“Climatised quickly by training with Lautoka and it was a really good experience. They’ve been very kind and welcoming. Tough boys out there but very good players also. Training with Lautoka was very good. Few very good players over there.”
“I fell in love with the game when I was very young, five, six, and then started playing a lot when I was younger, so I just always stuck with it and then realised I start taking it a bit more seriously and I’ll try and pursue it as a job.”
He also said that he is expecting some physical football challenge from the players in the extended squad.
“I can imagine it’d be very competitive in camp, but I’m here to show my talent. This is what I came down for. I’m looking forward to it. I know a lot of good players are from Fiji and overseas also.”
“Obviously I want to get through these trials. I’m quite a technical player. The main goal is getting into the squad and then taking it step by step. Hopefully getting through to that OFC championship.”
“Obviously the pitch was hard out of the surface but I’ve played on tough pitches in the UK. So I got used to it pretty quick. But now I’d say the pitch is a bit different. The players- they’re all very fast.”
“Yeah, I was able to keep up but now there are a few very quick lines. Really want to do my best at the trials.”
“So I’m used to playing physically.
“I just improve my technical ability to do the talking and get the fundamentals right of working hard.”
McFadyen has also gained experience playing in the Stockport Georgians men’s team and highlighted his training in England.
“In England, we train four times a week, game once a week. It’s a lot of technical work on the ball. There’s also the physical aspects, we’re in the gym after every session. It’s gonna be different here, but I reckon I’ll go for it.”
“Yeah, versatile. I can use my left foot more like my right foot.”
“My strengths like I’m a direct player. Try to score as many goals as possible and I want to improve on different levels of physicality. I’m used to playing in physical conditions in England so now it’s probably just getting used to that.”
Source Fiji Live