The men’s side is currently ranked 194th in the world and ninth in Oceania while the women are faring a bit better with 47th position in the world and second in the region.
As is the case around the Pacific there is no shortage of talent and OFC and the PNGFA are hoping the introduction of OFC coach mentor Mike Keeney will go a long way towards improving the game around the country.
US-born Keeney has extensive coaching experience, opting for the coaching avenue after serious injuries forced him to hang up his boots at just 21 years old.
“I coached in America at university level for over ten years, all the while there working with the local youth clubs and also with the Olympic development programme and then at the various state and regional associations in American soccer.”
After doing some work in England and Scotland on player identification, visa issues soon forced Keeney to look further afield, finally settling on Finland.
“One of my former players said there would be some work for me there so I went over there with two bags and ended up staying five years,” Keeney says.
His experience has seen him coaching in Finland’s Premier League as well as First and Second division with Ekenas Idrottsforening, FC Viikingit and Myllykosken Pallo 47 – who also appeared in the 2010 UEFA Europa League. Keeney was also an assistant coach for the women’s first team at Helsinki Jalkapallo Klubi in 2008/09 when the side won the Liiga Cup and were runners-up in the Soumen Cup.
Keeney says his stint in Finland wasn’t always pleasurable but he has absolutely no regrets.
“When I went over there I didn’t have a contract, I didn’t have anything, so when people offered me chances to train I jumped on the field and trained. I wouldn’t call it the happiest time of my life, but all I did was train,” he says.
“I was training men’s teams, women’s teams, junior teams. It was great. There was no stress of administration it was just football. And then doors started opening for me and I was getting more involved with specific clubs and it was kind of a dream come true as I was able to see the ins and outs of the professional game.”
Keeney says with this new role in Papua New Guinea he will be able to see both how a confederation works as well as the FA which is a prospect he is looking forward to.
“Fifteen years ago if you’d told me I would be living in Papua New Guinea I would have said ‘no way’. Now it’s my every day.”
Keeney’s main role while there is to work on implementing a Youth Talent Programme which involves setting up academies in both Lae and Port Moresby, as well as working with existing PNGFA technical staff on the identification of additional staff and coaches and talented youth players. The academies are being set-up with the help of both OFC and its partner the Asia Pacific Football Academy (APFA).
OFC technical director Patrick Jacquemet says Keeney came highly recommended by APFA technical director Giovani Fernandes, who is one of Keeney’s former players.
“I received some advice from Giovani as they worked together in the USA. Choosing Mike was also influenced by the fact that he has a great understanding of the APFA structure and how it functions,” Jacquemet says.
“Certainly his experience and what he has achieved in the past came into play when making the decision to hire him, especially his understanding of the development of youth players.”
Having arrived just ahead of the OFC U-17 Championship in April, Keeney has already had a chance to see the players and talent that is present in Papua New Guinea and he says knowing what there is to work with will make his job much easier in the long run.
“I think I was pretty fortunate to be able to do that so I could get some idea of what the national level was like prior to the implementation of the academy. That’s the target age and it gave me a chance to look at them and say this is the standard we are looking for,” he says.
“It’s a little tough to come into a country and say this is the standard of a European team or this is the standard that we have in the USA and say that these players need to be there. You can’t. You have to play with the players that are available in a country before you draw the line.”
He says there is a lot of raw talent available in Papua New Guinea and now the challenge is taking those players and making them a team.
“There are a lot of players who are physically strong and quick, but the awareness, the game knowledge and the situational knowledge is something that we need to improve. I think it becomes a lot of technical work, tactical work and recognising situations.
“I think one-against-one there’s a lot of good players but putting them into a team atmosphere and having a set style of play needs to be addressed a little more, and with that technique.”
For more on Papua New Guinea football go to www.pngfootball.com.pg

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