Recently, two players from the Solomon Islands made history in the English FA Cup: Ali Mekawir and Ian Lagwai. Both players had great performances in Langney Wanderers 3-1 win over Tower Hamlets in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup – the first elimination round of the tournament.
This accomplishment made former Solomon Islands international Joel Konofilia very happy. Konofilia is the ower of Royals, a football academy that holds a partnership with an English football academy called Stars. He is the responsible for taking players from the Solomon Islands to train in England which means that he was the one who took Mekawir and Kula to Europe.
Konofilia expressed his happines and showed optimism on social media: “When our players in England come back and play for the Solomon Islands, we will beat New Zealand no less than 5-0 […] I am more than confident that they have enough experience to smash New Zealand or any other country in Oceania,” he stated.
Royals Academy is a very interesting football project and they are now building their own structure in Solomon Islands where children and teenagers will be able to train and study – a great initiative by Joel Konofilia.
Oceania Football Center 