Fiji Junior Bula Boys Under 19 coach Marika Rodu says the pressure is mounting, especially compared to the two teams that represented the country in the OFC U19 Championship last year and the year before.

Rodu says their job is to stay calm, collected and confident when they face their first opponents on Friday.

He adds that while they are feeling nervous, balancing their emotions is crucial to winning this tournament.

“The pressure is always on us to do our best and continue with some level of consistency so we ought to go there and focus on our performance first and we will take each game at a time.”

Rodu adds that it was hectic trying to find the right mix of boys, and this has always been a challenge.

He says the local competitions have moulded the players well, making selection quite difficult.

The Digicel Junior Bula Boys U19 were farewelled at the Fiji Football Ba Academy today.

They will face Tahiti first on Friday at 11.45am in Apia, Samoa.