[Source: The Canberra Times]

A Sydneysider plucked by David Beckham as a talented teen looms as Fiji’s X-Factor this week as the Bula Boys attempt to win through to the FIFA World Cup.

Fiji face regional heavyweights New Zealand in the Kiwi capital on Friday in their underdog effort to reach a maiden World Cup.

They are being buoyed by the experience of their Olympic gold-winning Rugby Sevens side, and a licence to dream by a qualification tweak.

For the first time, FIFA has granted the Oceania confederation a confirmed place at the tournament, turning the once-distant hopes of Pacific nations to play at a World Cup into a real possibility.

The prospect has prompted coach Rob Sherman, a former technical director at Football Australia, into a global search for Fijian talent that could bolster the team.

Leroy Jennings, a midfielder with NSW NPL club Sydney United 58, was only too happy to take the call.

He even answered it while in the gym rehabbing a torn ACL suffered nine months earlier.

“I was a few weeks off being cleared (to play) and (Sherman) goes, ‘would you be keen on coming to Fiji for a training camp? We’ve got a World Cup qualifier next month’,” Jennings said.

Calling off a long-planned family holiday to Europe at the last minute, he made an international debut in sodden Suva with a 1-0 win against Solomon Islands in October.

In November, two draws in Papua New Guinea secured Fiji’s place in the final stages of qualifying, and their match-up with New Zealand.

“It’s been crazy,” said Jennings, who said he was all-in on helping Fiji win new ground in the beautiful game.

“A lot of these boys know and have seen history been made with the Fiji Sevens in the Olympics.

“They know history is within their reach.

“And the good part about the boys being from such humble beginnings is they almost don’t know how big (the World Cup) is so there’s a good calmness in camp. I haven’t really felt any nervous energy.

“To qualify for the World Cup would change every single person’s life involved with this team and the association forever that’s for sure.”

The 27-year-old said the squad, all but five of whom play in the local amateur league, were powered by a deep and enriching faith celebrated every day.

“We have devotion morning and night together, which is an amazing experience to be a part of,” he said.

“It’s spiritually very fulfilling and this is where this team draws its strength from, filling our cup in the morning and before we go to sleep every day.”

Jennings is eligible for the team owing to his Fiji-born father and a stint living and playing in rural Ba for the national under-20s as a teenager, one part of his whirlwind early career.

At age 13, Jennings, the cousin of former NRL players Michael and George Jennings, was personally selected by superstar Beckham to join his LA Galaxy academy.

“When I look back now, I realise the magnitude of it all,” he says of his underage stardom.

“But back then to be honest I was ignorant. And ignorance was bliss. I was happy, I was thinking, ‘football in LA, how great, this is fun’.”

A stint in the English game followed before he returned to his hometown of Sydney, where he has forged a career at state level.

Sherman said Jennings’ experience and versatility – being able to play through midfield and in wider roles – would be a huge asset against New Zealand.

“That type of addition to the team, someone with a bit of positional flexibility is a great thing,” he said.

“He did well on his first string of internationals and he’s got an ongoing role to play as the years progress.”

Whatever qualities Jennings brings, there’s no getting around the fact that Fiji, No.148 in the world, are rank outsiders against the All Whites who are led by red-hot Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood.

The squad has very few professionals and the country’s greatest ever player – 37-year-old striker Roy Krishna – is out with a serious knee injury.

Sherman is eager to increase his stable of pros for future qualifying cycles with a recruitment drive among overseas-based Fiji-eligible players.

Auckland FC defender Dan Hall is one such player who could qualify, but the Fiji FA need to convince the government to relax strict requirements to do so.

“We do have a very unfortunate passport law in Fiji,” Sherman said.

So if you haven’t had the passport by time you’re 18, especially for overseas players now not born in Fiji, you have to come back to (live in) Fiji for five years to get your passport.

“We’ve a number of pros overseas that we can’t get … there’s a boy at Leeds United, a boy at Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto, and I’m sure there are others.”

“When we did a recent survey there’s 40-plus boys in the English academy system and there’s many around the MLS.”

Alongside Fiji’s match with New Zealand, Tahiti also face New Caledonia in the two Oceania World Cup qualifying match-ups on Friday.

The two semi-final winners will then meet on Monday at Eden Park, with the winner securing a place at the 2026 tournament, and the loser going into an inter-confederation playoff next year.

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