New Caledonian football reached a lot of important achievements in the recent history of Oceania football: played their first FIFA tournament in the 2017 edition of U17 World Cup held India, reached the finals of OFC Nations Cup 2012 and the semifinals of the last edition in 2017, earned the silver medal losing for New Zealand in the last Pacific Games held in Samoa and – the most prominent of these – saw their Hienghène Sport to win the 2019 OFC Champions League. We have to admit: New Caledonia football is stepping ahead – and they are being fast.
The likes of Cesar Zéoula at SC Schiltigheim and Georges Gope-Fenepej at Le Mans FC showing their talents in the European continent can add more honours to what the Kanaks had done to improve their football recently. Not only these two are currently playing their club football in the most developed football continent coming from New Caledonia – various others can be seem in the last call-ups made by Thierry Sardo, the Cagous head coach
Jean-Philippe Saiko is one of those who departed early their home nation to make them proud through football. Jean-Philippe already scored 11 times in just 9 matches played for his country, an impressive mark that shows the quality of the striker that recently signed for Tasman United in New Zealand’s top flight ISPS Handa Premiership.
“Since my arrival on Nelson, I have been preparing myself a lot physically, our training sessions are intensive compared to the training I was able to get in New Caledonia“, says Jean-Philippe. “I train hard because I know that the level of play in New Zealand is a little higher than in New Caledonia, even though I have had 7 years of experience in France”, complete the New Caledonian international.
The seven years of experience he mentions in the French minor leagues were in the Championnat National 3, the fifth tier – six years with Poitiers FC – and the Division D’Houner, the sixth tier, playing one year with CS Neuville.
Saiko seems excited about the chance to play at New Zealand top football league: “The ISPS Handa Championship will really be an opportunity for me to be even better on the field”. The striker signed for the Nelson-based club after a short stint at AS Magenta, the current Mobil Super Ligue – the New Caledonian first league – champions. The player says he returned his home country after his girlfriend decided to get back from France to New Caledonia after studying in the European nation. “I was already playing with Magenta before going to France so I came back to play with Magenta“, explains the player.
Saiko agrees the football level in France is higher than in New Caledonia and the football played in New Zealand is more phyisical, but despite of this he sees a bright future for some young talents back in his nation: “There are many young players in New Caledonia who have the ability to go and play in France, now there is still the problem of sending them to France and following them. They are very young and it is hard for them to live far from their families”.
The striker also adds the biggest problem for the New Caledonians game is the physical area due the semi-pro level of football in the nation: “The problem in New Caledonia is that players are not paid, so it is not a priority for players to go to training every day. To go work out or run outside of training“. Jean-Philippe completes his speech saying that in New Zealand there are experienced coaches as Jess Ibrom – his head coach in Tasman United – that imposes good physical trainings and with his knowledge helps the players to develop in this part of the game – “In New Zealand football becomes a profession because you have a salary, they offer you a job, we have advantages that we don’t have in New Caledonia”, says the new signing of Tasman United.
Despite the problems mentioned by Jean-Philippe Saiko, New Caledonia made a very good tournament in the last edition of Pacific Games, counting with the quality of players like Bertrand Kaï, Richard Sele and Rocky Nyikeine – just losing in the golden medal match against New Zealand U23 side.
“We lost the final against New Zealand, but we led 1-0. We didn’t lose any games and we didn’t concede any goals before we played in the final. The weather was not favourable, the terrain was muddy and we were tired too. The New Zealanders scored 2 goals from set-pieces in the last minutes and that’s what hurt us, but New Zealand had a good level of play and a high morale that we didn’t necessarily had“, explains the New Caledonian international. “I think if we can count with the players in Europe as Gope-Fenepej and Zéoula in a near future we can beat New Zealand”, adds an optmistic Jean-Philippe Saiko.
Saiko and his new club Tasman United will start their 2019/20 season at ISPS Handa Premiership playing in Trafalgar Park, their home ground, against Southern United next 2nd November.
Oceania Football Center 
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