Cook Islands footballer Tearoa Rouru received “an unexpected surprised” when she was awarded the Player of the Match award against Tahiti at the OFC U-19 Women’s Championship 2023 in Suva, Fiji.

The match played on Saturday ended in a nil-all draw.

The national defender, who has been playing football for 10 years, made her international debut against Tahiti.

“I’m proud and excited to be here to represent my family and country,” Rouru told Cook Islands News.

“It was a tough game because Tahiti wasn’t an easy team to compete against and they had the passion to take out a win against us which made me play my hardest.”

She said that the award was an unexpected surprise and “when I was receiving the player of the match award it felt so overwhelming and proud of myself”.

Cook Islands will play Solomon Islands in their final group match on Tuesday (Cook Islands time)

“So far the preparation for the next match is going fine as my teammates and I are recovering and resting and continuing our training to prepare ourselves for the next game.”