The American Sanioan women lost 6-0 to eventual gold medallists Papua New Guinea, but they had held out OFG’s number two team for long periods before finally running out of steam in the last 20 minutes. Their next match, against the Cook Islands, proved to be historic with Brand’s team bouncing back from 1-0 down to draw 1-1. The elation was palpable after some harsh comments in the media following the men’s performances.
“We had members of the American Samoa South Pacific Games village coming up and criticising us for our results and some of the things they said were unkind. But we arc very proud of our 1-1 result today and I’m happy with the way we played,” said Brand.
The performance of young goalkeeper Filiga Kerisiano wont the hearts of the fans at die Toleafoa J.S. Blatter Playing Fields, her display keeping her fledgling team’s hopes alive. American Samoa went on to lose their two final matches to the Solomon Islands (3-0) and Fiji (3-0).
Fiji women’s coach Farouk Janeman was quick to express his admiration for American Samoa s performances after his team defeated Brands 3-0: “You don’t know how hard it is for teams like American Samoa to prepare tor games. This is their first time playing international football and they did well. They should be pleased.”

Tilings were to get worse against Vanuatu and a 15-0 scoreline was yet another hammer blow for American Samoa, currently in 201″ and therefore last position in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
Some people say that Brand’s job is one for a “masochist”, with American Samoa’s most famous result a 31-0 loss to Australia in a FIFA World Cup qualifier a few years ago. Brand, however, defends his corner stoically and is proud of the work that he has achieved at a federation, the Football Federation of American Samoa (FFAS), that has been divided by political infighting throughout a turbulent ten-year period and has only just managed to come out of the dark and into a bright future.
Former FFAS President Pou Supapo had nothing but admiration for the work of Brand who she says had performed over and above the outline of his original job description: ”David has been wonderful for American Samoan football and we owe him a great deal of gratitude.”
American Samoa’s best march of the tournament came against the Kilifi Uele-coached Tongans, who had impressed with their nu\ athleticism and enthusiasm against Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. They discovered American Samoa a much tougher nut to crack, however, with Penitusi finally getting a fair share of luck and a more robust performance from those in front of him. The march had the American Samoa coach and his staff on the edge of their seats as Tonga toiled to open up a team that had previously unravelled at the merest hint of pressure, Tonga finally overcame American Samoa, but it was not without a struggle.
After the match, Brand had a beaming smile as he regarded the 4-0 defeat as a moral victory. “I am very proud of these players. When you lose a match 12-1, and another match 15-0, then 4-0 becomes a great result,” Brand said. “We work with very limited resources and you can see the criticism that we get from some quarters and most of it is unfair. We’re even lucky to put a team out on the pitch and so for people to criticise the performances is wrong, given that there was a question mark about us being here just a few days before the tournament started. I’m very proud of the ream,” concluded Brand, who also coached the women’s team that actually outperformed the men by achieving some historic results in their international football debut.

American Samoa is one of FIFA’s smallest member associations and to be found in the lower reaches of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. Nevertheless, football fever is burning brightly on this tiny pacific island.
The XIII South Pacific Giaines in Samoa from 25 August to 8 September 2007 were always going 10 he cough for American Samoa and ihcir coach, David Brand. They were Iuck to even make the plane to Samoa with rumours abounding that the team might withdraw from the tournament altogether as players, aware of the strong possibility of heavy defeats and consequent public derision, developed an anxiety about playng at the Toleafoa J.S. Blatter Playng Fields in Apia.
After much cajoling by Brand, the squad eventually arrived in Samoa but they soon wished they had not bothered after suffering a 12-1 loss to the favourites, the Solomon Islands. Ramin Ott scored American Samoas goal after some ponderous defending by the normally reliable George Suri and Samson Takayama saw Ott bundled down in the box. Ott converted the penalty to scenes ol delirium on the American Samoa bench but the happiness was short-lived as the Solomon Islands’ Benjamin Torori. Ajiclc Macmae and Stanley Waita piled on the goals-and the misery-for American Samoa.
Matters were hardly helped as American Samoa’s number one goalkeeper-the US-based Nicky Salapu – missed a connecting Bight to Apia and failed to make a single appearance at the tournament, leaving 17-year-old Jordan Penitusi to face the music in front of a naive and porous defence. Penitusi did his level best to maintain national pride but was instead left shell-shocked by wave after wave of unrelenting attacks.