THE Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) will field two teams for the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Prime Minister’s (PM’s) Cup scheduled for December 10 to 22 in Honiara.
This was confirmed during the official draw for the tournament last Friday at the National Stadium Conference Room.
The MSG-PM’s Cup this year will feature Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.
As the host nation, Solomon Islands will field in two teams – the National Team who are the defending champions of the MSG-PM’s Cup and also the U23 Team.
The Solomon Islands teams have been drawn in Group A alongside PNG, while New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu were drawn in Group B.
With the two Solomon Islands team drawn in same group, they will also face each other.
Official fixtures have also been set after the draw last Friday and they show that matches will kick off on December 9 after the official opening on December 8.
According to the fixtures, the Solomon Islands National Team and U23 squad will face each other on 9 December at the Lawson Tama Stadium at 1pm for the first match in Group A.
Vanuatu and New Caledonia will meet at 3pm for the first Group B match.
The second Group B match between Fiji and New Caledonia will be on 12 December at1pm, while the second Group A match will be at 3pm on the same day between Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
Day one and two matches are set to be played at the Lawson Tama Stadium, while Day three matches up until the grand-final will be played at the National Stadium.
PNG will take on Solomon Islands U23 at1pm on 15 December for third Group A match, while Vanuatu and Fiji will meet at 3pm on the same day for the third Group B match.
The winner and runner up from each group will meet in the semi-finals on the 18December, while the losers of the semi-finals will meet on 21December in the third-place playoff at1pm before the grand-final showdown at 3pm on the same day.
By FLOYD TERRY JNR
Solomon Star, Honiara
