Goal Programme - Samoa Football Soccer Federation - 2007

Football still takes second place behind rugby in the popularity stakes but has gained ground over the past few years. It is especially popular with children and teenagers so the ranking is reversed in this age category. The Samoan women's national team won its first ever competitive match by beating the Cook Islands during the preliminary competition for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. Tim Cahill has brought a dash of Samoan football to the English professional scene playing for Everton Football Club. The Samoa Football Federation has organised three regional qualifying tournaments for the FIFA World Cup? and Olympic Football Tournament since 1998. It is the best organised sports association in the country with a new technical director being appointed in 2002 who is responsible for training coaches and organising development programmes for youths and players.

On 3 December 2006, the Goal Bureau gave its first ever approval to projects from member associations who had already benefited from Goal on two previous occasions. Whereas there had hitherto been no means of holding evening fixtures on international standard pitches in Samoa, the Goal Bureau has now given the green light for the installation of floodlighting at the national stadium, thus generally increasing the playing time available and, in particular, enabling Samoa to host international competitions. The Samoa Football Soccer Federation played host to the South Pacific Games football tournament in September 2007.