American Samoa national football team

American Samoa

Nickname(s)	The Boys from the Territory
Association	Football Federation American Samoa (FFAS)
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Head coach	Larry Mana'o
Captain	Ramin Ott
Most caps	Nicky Salapu (16)
Top scorer	Ramin Ott (3)
Home stadium	Veterans Memorial Stadium
FIFA code	ASA
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	191 2 (24 November 2016)
Highest	164 (October 2015)
Lowest	205 (May 2006)
Elo ranking
Current	227 (14 February 2016)
Highest	191 (22 August 1983)
Lowest	233 (5 September 2011)
First international
unofficial  Western Samoa 3–1 American Samoa (Apia, Western Samoa; August 20, 1983) FIFA recognised  Tonga 3–0 American Samoa (Rarotonga, Cook Islands; September 2, 1998)
Biggest win
unofficial American Samoa 3–0 Wallis and Futuna  (Apia, Western Samoa; August 22, 1983) FIFA recognized American Samoa 2–0 Cook Islands  (Nuku'alofa, Tonga; September 4, 2015)
Biggest defeat
Australia 31–0 American Samoa (Coffs Harbour, Australia; April 11, 2001) (international record)

The American Samoa national football team (Samoan: Au soka Amerika Sāmoa) represents American Samoa in association football and is controlled by the Football Federation American Samoa, the governing body of the sport in the territory. American Samoa's home ground is Veterans Memorial Stadium in Pago Pago and their head coach is Larry Mana'o.^[1]

Overview

Regarded as one of the world's weakest teams,^[1] until November 2011 they were the joint lowest FIFA ranking of all countries registered for full internationals.^[2][3] The team holds the world record for the largest defeat in an international match, set after their 31–0 loss to Australia.^[4]

American Samoa achieved its first victory in a 3–0 win against Wallis and Futuna in the group stage of the 1983 South Pacific Games,^[5] when neither team was a member of FIFA.

On November 23, 2011, the team defeated Tonga 2–1 in the first round of OFC World Cup Qualification, with a long-range goal by Ramin Ott, and a chip over the keeper by Shalom Luani, helping them record their first official international victory after 30 consecutive defeats.^[1]

They followed this up with a 1–1 draw against Cook Islands, but failed to progress in their qualifying group, after losing to Samoa 1–0, the only goal being scored in the 89th minute.

On December 2011 the team achieved its then greatest position in the FIFA World Rankings.

The team's efforts to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup was chronicled in 2014 British documentary, Next Goal Wins, directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison.^[6][7] They followed this campaign with their most successful qualifying attempt in their history during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in summer 2015, winning twice and narrowly missing out on progressing to the next stage on goal difference. This rise in fortunes can be attributed to the increased number of US college based players, who experience a more professional training regime compared to the amateur players that used to dominate previous squads. These victories would take them to a new high FIFA ranking of 164th in October 2015.

American Samoa all-time record against all nations

As of September 5, 2015 (UTC)

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Australia	1	0	0	1	0	31	−31	0%
Cook Islands	4	1	1	2	6	8	−2	25%
Fiji	2	0	0	2	0	24	−24	0%
Guam	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	0%
New Caledonia	3	0	0	3	0	28	−28	0%
Papua New Guinea	3	0	0	3	0	37	−37	0%
Samoa	10	0	0	10	5	44	−39	0%
Solomon Islands	2	0	0	2	1	16	−15	0%
Tahiti	3	0	0	3	1	32	−31	0%
Tonga	9	2	0	7	10	26	−16	22.2%
Tuvalu	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	0%
Vanuatu	4	0	0	4	1	39	−38	0%
Wallis and Futuna	2	1	0	1	4	5	−1	50%
Total	42	4	1	39	28	326	−298	4.76%

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1998	Did not enter									–	–	–	–	–	–
2002	Did not qualify								5th	4	0	0	4	0	57
2006									5th	4	0	0	4	1	34
2010									5th	4	0	0	4	1	38
2014									3rd	3	1	1	1	3	3
2018									2nd	3	2	0	1	6	4
Total										18	3	1	14	11	136

World Cup qualification record

FIFA World Cup qualification history
Year	Round	H/A/N	Score	Result
2002	Group 1	N	American Samoa 0 – 13  Fiji	Loss
	Group 1	N	American Samoa 0 – 8  Samoa	Loss
	Group 1	N	American Samoa 0 – 31  Australia	Loss
	Group 1	N	American Samoa 0 – 5  Tonga	Loss
2006	Group 1	A	American Samoa 0 – 4  Samoa	Loss
	Group 1	N	American Samoa 1 – 9  Vanuatu	Loss
	Group 1	N	American Samoa 0 – 11  Fiji	Loss
	Group 1	N	American Samoa 0 – 10  Papua New Guinea	Loss
2010	Group B	N	American Samoa 1 – 12  Solomon Islands	Loss
	Group B	A	American Samoa 0 – 7  Samoa	Loss
	Group B	N	American Samoa 0 – 15  Vanuatu	Loss
	Group B	N	American Samoa 0 – 4  Tonga	Loss
2014	First round	N	American Samoa 2 – 1  Tonga	Win
	First round	N	American Samoa 1 – 1  Cook Islands	Draw
	First round	A	American Samoa 0 – 1  Samoa	Loss
2018	First round	N	American Samoa 2 – 3  Samoa	Loss
	First round	N	American Samoa 2 – 1  Tonga	Win
	First round	N	American Samoa 2 – 0  Cook Islands	Win

OFC Nations Cup record

• 1973 and 1980 — Did not enter
• 1996 to 2016 — Did not qualify

South Pacific Games record

• 1963 to 1979 — Did not enter
• 1983 — Group Stage
• 1987 — Sixth place
• 1991 to 2003 — Did not enter
• 2007 — Group Stage
• 2011 — Group Stage

1983

The football tournament at the 1983 South Pacific Games in Western Samoa was the first time American Samoa had entered, having missed the six tournaments from 1963 to 1979. American Samoa were drawn in Group A along with Samoa, Tonga, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands. Two points would be awarded for a win, one for a draw, with the top two in each group advancing to the quarter-finals. Their first two games ended in defeat, losing 3–1 to Samoa and 3–2 to Tonga. In their final game against the Wallis and Futuna Islands, however, they achieved their first victory, winning by three goals to nil. The two points gained from this win, though, were not enough to finish in the top two, so American Samoa went out at the group stage.

1987

The 1987 football tournament saw American Samoa compete for the 2nd time in their history. In a format change from the previous tournament in 1983, the entered teams were placed in one large group, with the group winner taking the gold medal. In their opening match, American Samoa were on the receiving end of a 10–0 thrashing from the hosts, New Caledonia. Their next two matches also ended in defeat, albeit less severe: 7–0 against Vanuatu and 5–1 against the Wallis and Futuna Islands. Papua New Guinea, however, were less merciful, and scored twenty without reply in what turned out to be the American Samoans' last game of the tournament, their final match against Tahiti being cancelled. American Samoa would not enter again until 2007, missing the 1991, 1995, and 2003 tournaments.

2007

American Samoa made their 3rd appearance at the South Pacific Games football tournament in 2007. The competition also doubled as the first stage of the OFC qualification tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the three medal winners progressing to the final qualifying group. American Samoa were drawn in Group B along with the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu. In their opening match, they were defeated 12–1 by the Solomon Islands, with Ramin Ott scoring only their second goal in their FIFA World Cup qualification history. Following two more heavy defeats (7–0 against Samoa and 15–0 against Vanuatu), American Samoa went into their final game versus Tonga unable to qualify from their group. Their 4–0 defeat in this game, however, was their best result since 2006.

2011

At the football tournament of the 2011 South Pacific Games, held in Nouméa, New Caledonia, American Samoa were drawn in Group A alongside the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Guam, Tuvalu, and the hosts New Caledonia. In their opening two games, they were defeated 4–0 first by Tuvalu and then by the Solomon Islands. Their best result came in game three, a 2–0 loss to Guam, before back-to-back 8–0 defeats to New Caledonia and Vanuatu ensured that once again American Samoa exited at the group stage. Their group stage stats: Played 5, Lost 5, Scored 0, Conceded 26.

Results and fixtures

2015

Fiji  v  American Samoa

27 August 2015 Friendly	Fiji	6–0	American Samoa	Nadi, Fiji
	Kerevanua  8' (pen.) Tiwa  54' Qasevakatini  61' Warainuvalu  72' Vakatalesau  74', 80' Sivoki		Beauchamp	Stadium: Prince Charles Park, Nadi

Samoa  v  American Samoa

31 August 2015 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – OFC First Round	Samoa	3–2	American Samoa	Nuku'alofa, Tonga
15:30 UTC+13	Fa'aiuaso  4' Hamilton-Pama  18' Mobberly  26'		Beauchamp  38', 86'	Stadium: Loto-Tonga Soka Centre Referee: Nelson Sogo (Solomon Islands)

American Samoa  v  Tonga

2 September 2015 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – OFC First Round	American Samoa	2–1	Tonga	Nuku'alofa, Tonga
15:30 UTC+13	Manao  49' Ott  51'		S. Uhatahi  47'	Stadium: Loto-Tonga Soka Centre Referee: Salesh Chand (Fiji)

American Samoa  v  Cook Islands

4 September 2015 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – OFC First Round	American Samoa	2–0	Cook Islands	Nuku'alofa, Tonga
15:00 UTC+13	Mitchell  58' Manao  66' Samuelu  7', 80'	Report		Stadium: Loto-Tonga Soka Centre Attendance: 250 Referee: Ravitesh Behari (Fiji)

Current squad

Players selected to compete in the First Round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands.
Caps and goals updated as of 4 September 2015.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Pita Falevalu	18 September 1985	4	0	Seattle Ba
23	GK	Nicky Salapu	13 September 1980	16	0	Unattached
2	DF	Ne'emia Kaleopa	9 May 1996	4	0	Utulei Youth
4	DF	Casper Kuresa	7 January 1991	5	0	ASCC
12	DF	Paul Collins	31 May 1997	1	0	Utulei Youth
13	DF	Rawlston Masaniai	13 May 1983	6	0	PSA Elite
17	DF	Uasila'a Heleta	27 February 1987	15	0	Pago Youth
19	DF	Ryan Samuelu	19 February 1991	4	0	Utulei Youth
3	MF	Jordan Grantz	5 December 1992	4	0	North Carolina Wesleyan College
5	MF	Jason Si'i	27 December 1983	3	0	Puebla Soccer Team
6	MF	Kaleopa Siligi	26 March 1996	2	0	Utulei Youth
7	MF	Dylan Hardie-Jordan	2 October 1992	4	0	Hawaii Pacific University
9	MF	Ramin Ott (c)	22 June 1986	15	3	Pago Youth
10	MF	Panweichi Kaleopa	15 June 1994	3	0	Leone Lions
14	MF	Justin Manao	25 March 1993	7	2	Pacific Lutheran University
15	MF	Tor-Lawrence Manao	27 May 1999	3	0	Crossfire Premier
21	MF	Sam Kome	6 May 1996	2	0	Lion Hearts
8	FW	Ryan Aloali'i Mitchell	12 August 1994	3	1	Ware County High Varsity Soccer
11	FW	Demetrius Beauchamp	11 November 1991	4	2	San Jose State University
20	FW	Raphael Rocha	19 December 1996	1	0	Pago Youth

Managers

• Tiwo Kummings (2000)
• Anthony Langkilde (2001)
• Tunoa Lui (2001–02)
• Ian Crook (2004)
• Nathan Mease (2007)
• David Brand (2007–10)
• Iofi Lalogafuafua (2011)
• Thomas Rongen (2011)
• Larry Mana'o (2012–)

References

1. "American Samoa wins first ever football match after 30 straight defeats in 17 years". The Daily Telegraph. November 23, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
2. "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA.com. November 23, 2011. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
3. American Samoa's victory on November 23 came too late for this ranking period, and will be incorporated into the December rankings
4. Rookwood, Dan (April 11, 2001). "Aussie Rules as Socceroos smash world record again". The Guardian. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
5. Lee, Ben (November 24, 2011). "American Samoa football team celebrate first win in 18 years". Digital Spy. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
6. Mitchell, Wendy (3 February 2014) Making Next Goal Wins screendaily.com
7. Kev Geoghegan (6 May 2014). "Next Goal Wins for 'world's worst football team'". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2014.

External links

• Official website