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 Religious fans Samoans pray for victory over Scots
Posted: Sunday October 17, 1999 05:11 PM
APIA, Samoa (Reuters) -- Samoans throughout the South Pacific have turned to prayer to boost their team ahead of their World Cup quarterfinal play-off against Scotland at Murrayfield on Wednesday. A deeply religious people, the success of the Samoan side has provoked excitement well beyond the borders of the tiny South Pacific state and its population of 170,000, lying just to the east of the international dateline midway between New Zealand and the equator. In Apia, last week's 38-31 group victory over Wales was greeted with the tooting of car horns but the overwhelming feeling was that the side still had a long way to go in the tournament. Standing in the way of matching Samoa's 1991 and 1995 World Cup performances in reaching the quarterfinals, and hopes of greater glory, is the need for a first ever victory over Scotland. The Scots beat Samoa in the quarterfinals of the 1991 World Cup. Announcers on Apia's Radio 2AP at the weekend called on people to remember the team in their prayers and special prayers were expected to be offered in every church in Samoa during Sunday services. Samoan communities in New Zealand, Hawaii and California have also taken up the cause. At home interest crosses over a boundary formed in former colonial lines between what is now independent Samoa, which the team represents, and neigboring American Samoa, a territory of the United States. The World Cup has been followed just as keenly on cable television in American Pago Pago as it has been in Apia, said U.S. congressman Faleomavaega Eni, speaking from American Samoa. "Manu Samoa is still in the race for the World Cup and we are all cheering them on and supporting them," he said. The fans back home have confidence that their team can beat the Scottish, despite being scheduled to play in front of a partisan crowd at Murrayfield. They prefer to recall the two sides' 15-15 draw in Edinburgh in 1995 -- rather than the only other test when Scotland defeated Samoa 28-6 at the 1991 World Cup. "Scotland is a good team, but the Manu Samoa can still beat them," said Samoan rugby commentator Falaniko Vito, who ranks the recently improved Welsh more highly. "If Manu Samoa can play the same kind of game they employed against Wales, the chances are even better in beating Scotland."
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