Hopes alive for Hekari as they face Galaxy for a spot in OFC Champions League knock-out stage

Hekari United will play for their life in the OFC Champions League 2020 against the Ni-Vanuatu powerhouse Galaxy FC. The Papua New Guinean side will need to beat their opponent by a 3-goal advantage result if they want to proceed to the knock-out stage of the regional competition. If Hekari can complete this very hard duty, they will qualify and the Ni-Vanuatu will be knocked-out in the group stage.

Galaxy knows how hard it will be for their opponenets to proceed, but they also have something to fight for this match: a win can make the team coached by Batram Suri to top the group, what means they will host the quarterfinal game in Port Vila – having the so important home crowd advatange.

Hekari will need to take care of the strong offensive trio of Galaxy FC, composed by the Brazilian attacking midfielder Roberson, the English striker Terence Carter and Solomon Islands international Gagame Feni. Galaxy proved their worth when beating the current title holders of the tournament Hienghène Sport by 4-1 and in a 2-2 draw against the New Zealand champions Eastern Suburbs – suffering a equalizer at injury time.

Hekari will expect the Brazilian midfielder Vinicius Reis can use his creativity to guide his side in the middle of the park alongside the experienced David Muta that comes for the match after seeing a red card in the opener against Eastern Suburbs. The main issue for Hekari in their first two matches were the poor finishing: the strikers Ati Kepo, Kolu Kepo and Patrick Aisa could not provide good finishing, wasting many goalscoring opportunities created by the talented midfielders of the Papua New Guinean team.

Hekari will certainly have a hard challenge against Galaxy FC, but the Ni-Vanuatu side also can expect a hungry local side hoping to give some joy to their home fans.