Brian Kaltak tussles with an opposing player in Bhubaneswar Photo: India Football Federation
There have been promising results and bad ones but the rare experience of playing in Asia for some Pacific football teams this FIFA international window augurs well for the Pacific Games later this year.
This month, Vanuatu competed in India while Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea played in South-east Asia.
The games comes a short time after the regional body, the Oceania Football Confederation, and its Asian counterpart the AFC, signed a deal to foster more games between their teams.
Such tours give teams invaluable opportunities to play in top-class stadiums before they compete at November's Games in Honiara.
What is more important than the results - and there have been some encouraging ones - is that the men's teams are playing, and they're playing against good sides.
Malaysia, for example, have qualified for the 2023 Asian Cup for the first time in 15 years. They easily saw off Solomon Islands 4-1 in Kuala Terengganu and followed it with a 10-0 thrashing of Papua New Guinea in the same city.
Nevertheless, both those teams had made heartening efforts in Singapore - PNG drawing 2-2 with the city-state and the Solomons gaining a late equaliser for a 1-1 result against the same team.
They will learn from these results as will Vanuatu which contested the Intercontinental Cup in the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar. The Vanuatuans, led by A-League winner Brian Kaltak, went down 3-1 to far higher ranked Lebanon but held their own against eventual winners India in a 1-0 defeat. They rounded off the competition with an excellent 1-0 victory over Mongolia.
These results need to put into context: Vanuatu were ranked 164 before the tournament, Lebanon were 99 and India 101, a considerable gap in international terms.
This increase in activity coincides with an agreement being reached earlier this year between the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that will see more matches between the two continents' teams.
A joint statement said the Memorandum of Understanding would result in "high-level competition" for men's and women's teams and the exchanging of knowledge, experience and resources.
Solomon Islands (dark green) against Malaysia Photo: Supplied
'A good agreement'
Rafael Saltori, who edits the Oceania Football Center website, believes these games have been pivotal in improving opportunities for Pacific teams and raising the standards in the region.
"The lack of exposure is one of the biggest issues for football in the South Pacific. It's very important to showcase the talent of the players we have in the region, something that I had been trying to do at Oceania Football Center," he told RNZ Pacific.
"Vanuatu and Solomon Islands had better performances than Papua New Guinea, of course, but it's better to keep playing rather than to be for years without a competitive match as in the past.
"So I feel this is a good agreement between AFC and OFC in terms of helping the development of the local football, a good call from president Lambert Maltock."
He said the games have shown that the gap between Oceania and Asian teams is not that big and more exposure to national teams, players signing for overseas teams, and better preparation ahead of tours can close that gap even further.
"The talent is there, but we need to work in the other areas of the game that are lacking in the region: mental, fitness and tactical," he said.
Saltori was particularly impressed by Vanuatu in its three games in India, while he felt Solomon Islands played well in spells during both their games.
For Papua New Guinea however the Malaysia result was due, Saltori believes, to "a lack of preparation, bad team selection and the players did not prepare that well for both matches."
Nevertheless, he said they need to keep playing such sides to develop, and "it will be better if they do it properly next time".
Following in the footsteps of Kaltak and Krishna
As the success of Brian Kaltak and Fiji's Roy Krishna shows the Pacific clearly has plenty of talented players. World Cup winner Christian Karembeu, who is originally from New Caledonia, told RNZ Pacific about the array of talent in April on a visit to New Zealand.
"In the next two years we will have a pro-league. Finally, our kids will have a professional league," Karembeu told RNZ Pacific.
"This is good for the region. The dreams are open for our boys and girls...they are closer to achieving their dreams such as playing in Europe," he added.
For Rafael Saltori the recent games the tours highlighted some of the players of the future. In particular, for Vanuatu, Godine Tenene and John Wohale.
"I wish clubs overseas would look at these players. They are ready to leave and they just need a go to prove themselves - like Brian Kaltak did in the A-League and now everyone wonders: why was not he a pro before? Because of a lack of opportunity."
He said Solomon Islands also has big talent out, such as defenders Javin Wae and Ian Lagwai Kalu; and offensive players Calvin Ohasio, Don Keana and Bobby Leslie.
Meanwhile, the Women's World Cup is being held for the first time in the region with New Zealand and Australia co-hosting the event. With games being beamed into homes around the Pacific, football fans and promising players have the chance to see the best the world offers.
