American Samoa national football team

"American Samoa national football team" redirects here. For the American football team, see American football in American Samoa.

American Samoa

Association	Football Federation American Samoa (FFAS)
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Head coach	Steve Rutter
Captain	Liatama Amisone Jr.
Most caps	Nicky Salapu (17)
Top scorer	Shalom Luani Ramin Ott (2)
Home stadium	Veterans Memorial Stadium
FIFA code	ASA
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	179
Highest	173 (September 2012)
Lowest	206 (February 2011)
First international
unofficial Western Samoa 3–1 Am. Samoa (Apia, Western Samoa; August 20, 1983) FIFA recognised Tonga 3–0 Am. Samoa (Rarotonga, Cook Islands; September 2, 1998)
Biggest win
unofficial Am. Samoa 3–0 Wallis and Futuna (Apia, Western Samoa; August 22, 1983) FIFA recognized Am. Samoa 2–1 Tonga (Apia, Samoa; November 22, 2011)
Biggest defeat
Australia 31–0 American Samoa (Coffs Harbour, Australia; April 11, 2001) (International Record)

The American Samoa national association football team (Samoan: Amerika Sāmoa soka au) represents American Samoa in association football and is controlled by the Football Federation American Samoa, the governing body the sport in the territory. American Samoa's home ground is Veterans Memorial Stadium in Pago Pago and their head coach is Thomas Rongen, who previously ran the United States U-20 team. Regarded as one of the world's weakest teams, until November 2011 they were the joint lowest FIFA ranking of all countries registered for full internationals. The team hold the world record for the largest defeat in an international match, set after their 31–0 loss to Australia.

The team has seen a major improvement to their results since Rongen's appointment.

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, 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.

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 greatest position in the FIFA World Rankings.

American Samoa all time record against all nations

As of November 27, 2011 (UTC)

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Australia	1	0	0	1	0	31	−31	0%
Cook Islands	3	0	1	2	4	8	−4	0%
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	9	1	0	9	3	41	−38	0%
Solomon Islands	2	0	0	2	1	16	−15	0%
Tahiti	3	0	0	3	1	32	−31	0%
Tonga	8	1	0	7	8	25	−17	12.5%
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	3	1	39	22	294	−272	4.76%

World Cup record

1930–1998: Did not enter
2002–2014: Did not qualify

World Cup qualification record

Main article: American Samoa national football team results

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

OFC Nations Cup record

• 1973 and 1980 — Did not enter
• 1996 to 2012 — 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

Performance at the 1983 South Pacific Games

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.

Performance at the 1987 South Pacific Games

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.

Performance at the 2007 South Pacific Games

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.

Performance at the 2011 South Pacific Games

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.

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 (2012–present)

Squad

The following squad was selected for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification against Tonga, Samoa and Cook Islands. The caps is of the players is only in FIFA matches.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	1GK	Nicky Salapu	(1980-09-13) September 13, 1980	17	Mitra Kukar
23	1GK	Chin-Fu Ta'ase	(1990-07-18) July 18, 1990	2	Pago Youth
2	2DF	Liatama Amisone Jr.	(1989-03-02) March 2, 1989	12	Pago Youth
3	2DF	Uasila'a Heleta	(1986-01-21) January 21, 1986	15	Pago Youth
4	2DF	Daru Taumua	(1991-11-01) November 1, 1991	10	Pago Youth
5	2DF	Tala Luvu	(1990-09-02) September 2, 1990	12	Lion Heart FC
12	2DF	Terrence Sinapati	(1980-09-21) September 21, 1980	7	PanSa East
16	2DF	Johnny Saelua	(1988-07-19) July 19, 1988	10	University of Hawaii
18	2DF	Justin Manao	(1993-03-25) March 25, 1993	3	Pacific Lutheran University
19	2DF	Rawlston Masaniai	(1983-05-13) May 13, 1983	3	Unattached
7	3MF	Ismael Herrera	(1991-10-03) October 3, 1991	5	PanSa East
8	3MF	Moe Kuresa	(1991-01-07) January 7, 1991	8	Pago Youth
9	3MF	Ramin Ott	(1986-06-22) June 22, 1986	11	Bay Olympic
10	3MF	Kid Bartley	(1994-02-22) February 22, 1994	0	Tafuna High School
17	3MF	Natia Natia	(1985-03-02) March 2, 1985	11	Persepam Pamekasan
22	3MF	Fitiuta Maiava	(1990-07-12) July 12, 1990	0	Pago Youth
11	4FW	Diamond Ott	(1981-06-27) June 27, 1981	7	Unattached
13	4FW	Faimalo Tapui	(1983-07-03) July 3, 1983	12	Pago Youth
14	4FW	Charlie Uhrle	(1992-09-25) September 25, 1992	8	Unattached
15	4FW	Gene Neemia	(1988-02-06) February 6, 1988	10	Pago Youth
20	4FW	Shalom Luani	(1994-08-05) August 5, 1994	10	Tafuna Jets
21	4FW	Suani Uelese	(1991-05-30) May 30, 1991	2	Unattached

External links

• Official website