If you asked Justin Manao last summer what he would be doing in November, he would have told you hopefully playing in the NCAA Division III tournament with his new Pacific Lutheran University teammates. PLU made it to the NCAA tournament, however Justin wasn’t there. Instead Manao was in Samoa competing in World Cup Qualifying for American Samoa.

In October, Manao was contacted by the American Samoa Football Federation after they discovered his family heritage. Justin’s grandfather is American Samoan, which makes him eligible to play for them. After consulting with the American Samoa coach Thomas Rongen (former US Under 20 coach) and his coach at Pacific Lutheran, John Yorke, Manao decided to make the tough choice of missing the NCAA tournament and travel to American Samoa. 

After a brief training camp in November, the team had to jump head first into 2014 World Cup Qualifying for the Oceania Region. The Oceania division consists of American Samoa, Samoa, Tongo and the Cook Islands. It was a tough challenge considering American Samoa had never won an international match. American Samoa started off the tournament with a win against Tonga and two days later tied against the Cook Islands. Qualifying for the next round came down to a game against their neighbors Samoa. Unfortunately Samoa won the game 1-0. Manao played in every minute of all three games.

Congratulations to Justin and his new American Samoa teammates!

Click here to read the article on the FIFA website.