🇮🇹 italiano 🇮🇹
by Dario Focardi
In the last season, 2018-2019, the two neo-Caledonian teams Hienghène Sport and AS Magenta have beaten the competition of the others teams and for the first time in history they found themselves facing each other in the final of the OFC Champions League which was held the 11 May 2019 at the Numa Daly stadium in Nouméa, capital of New Caledonia, in front of 7,000 spectators. As we know, Hienghène got the better of the rivals with a formidable goal from midfield in a very tight game.
Obviously both teams are presents themselves at the starting line of the 2020 edition with the aim of returning to play for the title. The OFC club competition, which kicks off on February 16 in Papua New Guinea, will see the two 2019 finalists play their first game on March the 1st. Certainly the New Zealand teams will want to make their supremacy clear over the rest of their opponents to establish once again that kiwi football is the most important that is played in Oceania. But the two cagous teams will certainly not let themselves beat so easily. Hienghiène Sport also had the honor of playing the 1st round of the FIFA Club World Cup and fought very well to try to get through the round, leaving only after extra time with the Al-Sadd Qatariots led in bench from the culé legend Xavi Hernandez. This meeting allowed us to confront the most advanced professional football world and is just another important step in the path of growth that everyone expects from the football movement of the French-speaking country. But let’s analyze in detail the two groups in which Hienghiène Sport and AS Magenta happened.
GROUP A: Hienghène Sport, ABM Galaxy Football Club, Estern Suburbs AFC, Petroleum Resources Hekari United
Group A will take place in Port-Moresby in Papua New Guinea. The start is soft enough because the team from the north of the country will face the 2018/2019 vice-champions of Vanuatu, the Galaxy Football Club, on February the 16th. A team that is definitely within reach for the reigning champions. So 3 days later, on February the 19th, considerable difficulties begin to arrive. Hekari United, host and reigning champion of Papua New Guinea, will be a tough nutshell for everyone and will have the support of their fans. The journey for Henghiène Sport will end in beauty against the champions of New Zealand, the Eastern Suburbs AFC, which is one of the favorites for the final victory. In short, there is no easy way to get 1 of the 2 places needed to go to the knockout quarterfinals. It would be tough.
ROUND C: AS Magenta, AS Tiare Tahiti, 1 team from 2nd qualifying round, Solomon Islands Champion.
For Mister Alain Mozan’s men went much better. Meanwhile, they will have the opportunity to play the group at home and given the different environmental conditions that can be found in Ocenia, it is never bad to start with this advantage, then they will play their debut, on March 1st, against a team from the preliminaries. Soft start. The second game, on March 4, will be against AS Tiare Tahiti, the vice-champions of Tahiti, the best equipped team in the group in addition to AS Magenta. While the third and final game will be played on March 7 with the winning team of the Solomon Islands championship that has not yet ended. In short, it would seem an unhindered path that can lead the AS Magenta to the quarterfinals safely.
Subsequent rounds will be played with the following schedule:
Quarter-finals: 4/5 April 2020
Semi-final: 25/26 April 2020
Final: 9/10 May 2020
Before the start of the competition, the editorial team of Oceania Football Center will issue a comprehensive guide on the competition.
Oceania Football Center 