Veitongo (in green) playing a match in 2020 Tonga Challenge Cup – Tonga Football Association
The 2020 Tonga Challenge Cup is coming to its end as the men’s tournament reached the knock-out stage. Sixteen teams, eight from each group, are going to fight for this title in Tonga. However, the most interesting fact took place in the final round of the group stage, when current national champions defeated Isileli Kapeta by 43-0.
Veitongo finished on top of the Group B with ten victories in ten matches, while Isileli Kapeta finished the group stage in the last position with one point and with a -149 Goal Difference. In the Group A, Lavengatonga finished on top with nine victories and one draw, followed by Longoteme and Lotoha’apai United.
In the Women’s Tournament, Veitongo finished the first round on top and they will face Fasi & Afi in the quarter-finals, while second placed side Longolongo are going to face Nukuhetulu. You can check more all Challenge Cup’s knock-out stage matches by clicking here.
Labasa has some important players in its current squad; the Babasiga Lions are known for producing Roy Krishna and many other important players throughout its football history. Currently, the likes ofAntonio Tuivuna and Taniela Waqa might get interest from the fans – Tuivuna played both FIFA U20 World Cup and Olympics while Waqa is a veteran of Bula Boys.
But, recently, the impact is coming from another man: Ilisoni Lolaivalu. The winger is making real difference for the Labasa fans, especially after scoring a brace against Ba that sealed the spot of his team in the semi-finals of the 2020 edition of the Fiji FACT.
Ilisoni Lolaivalu (red) – Fiji FA Media
On Saturday, Lolaivalu will have the duty to guide his team against the current national champions Suva at Subrail Park. The day will also be very especial for the player as he will be turning 27 in the same day his team will be having the most important match of the season.
Labasa did not have a very good season at Vodafone Premier League – finishing 5th – but Lolaivalu scored four goals in the national league. In the most recent trophy won by the Babasiga Lions, the Inter-District Champions this year, the attacker was crucial for the team scoring four goals in the competition that led to a back-to-back title after beating Lautoka in the final game.
In the current Fiji FACT, Labasa’s number 11 is being very important in the attacking force of his team and heads to the decisive part of the tournament as one of the most prolific players so far. The almost 27-year-old man is still to be capped by Fiji national team, but his performances in the 2020 season are certainly entertaining the new head coach of Fiji, the Danish Flemming Serritslev.
The proceedings of the group stage are done in Fiji – the last football tourmanent of the year heads to its semi-final stage to be played this Saturday (28th Sep) at Subrail Park in Labasa. Despite the heavy conditions of the pitch, all matches went ahead as normal and four districts are qualified for the decisive part of the tournament.
The defending champions Nadi continues their battle in order to achieve a back-to-back title as the team coached by Kamal Swamy finished second in their group; they will be taking on the current Battle of Giants title holders Rewa that won their group. Suva, despite finishing with a 2-1 defeat against Lautoka, topped the group and will be taking the hosts Labasa in one of the semi-finals.
Some of the best footballers of the country will be thrilling the fans this weekend in Vanua Levu; the expectations are high and all we want to see is good football in order to give hopes of the development of football in Fiji. The pitch might be a major issue, but it is expected the workers at Subrail Park can repair everything before the kick-off this Saturday.
Labasa did what it was necessary for them to seal a spot at the semi-final stage of 2020 edition of Fiji FACT. Playing at home with an enthusiastic home crowd support, the Babasiga Lions seemed always stronger than Ba throughtout the 90 minutes of play.
The important Ilisoni Lolaivalu sent the fans into delirium as he scored through a header in front of Ba’s goalkeeper at the 17th minute of play. Labasa was ahead and all they wanted was to defend their lead until the end of the match. The Men in Black knew they would need at least a draw to qualify for the semi-finals and concentrated their efforts to attack. Ba did not create much goalscoring chances in the first half, while Labasa struggled to keep possession due the bad conditions of the pitch at Subrail Park.
Labasa players celebrate their first goal – Fiji FA Media
Labasa kept their lead until the final whistle of the first half; Ba came stronger in the final part of the match with the introduction of the experienced striker Samuela Drudru. Ba managed to level the match after a lapse of concentration of Labasa’s defense; the youngster Sumeet Goundar fired a shot that deflected return to himself and again the midfielder finished, this time finding the left down corner of Akuila Mateisuva for the celebration of Ba players and staff.
But, only two minutes later, Labasa took again the lead: after a well-taken corner at the first post, Ratu Anare flicked the ball directly to the nets of Ba. After a moment of doubt, the central referee confirmed the goal for Labasa for the joy of the fans on the stands – sending the Men in Black into desperation.
At the 70th minute of play Anare once again shined with a fantastic solo effort play; the attacker passed the defend and fired a perfect cross to Ilisoni Lolaivalu that headed the ball to the nets to score the third goal in favour of the Lions; the fans went dancing as they felt their team was very close to confirm a spot in the semi-finals of Fiji FACT.
The fans were right: Ba was not strong enough to force Labasa into pressure and the Lions even created more scoring chances. The young Shivneel Singh had the best chance for the Men in Black as he hit the post with a free-kick at the edge of the penalty box.
The 3-1 win for Labasa confirmed their to take on Suva this Saturday at Subrail Park in one of the semi-finals of the last football tournament of the year in Fiji. The other semi-final match will be played between Nadi and Rewa.
Ba finishes the year with no major trophies won – the club was also unable to qualify for the OFC Champions League at the Vodafone Premier League.
Lautoka could not win by the necessary margin and they are out of the Fiji FACT; the team coached by Anginesh Prasad managed to grab an impressive victory over the national champions Suva, but they needed a three-goal margin and the final result was not enough for them.
Joela Biuvanua saved the first chance of the game in an one-on-one situation against Suva’s Sairusi Nalaubu. The young Aporosa Yada suffered a foul inside the box commited by the experienced defender Remueru Tekiate – the midfielder Zibraaz Sahib made no mistake from the spot to put Lautoka upfront. Suva, despite Lautoka’s advantage, displayed some good football upfront and created good opportunities – Ravnesh Karan Singh hit the post from long distance, in the best chance of the Capital City Boys in the first half.
Lautoka is out of Fiji FACT – Fiji FA Media
In the second half what could not happen for Lautoka happened… after a corner-kick, Karan Singh shot to the middle of the are hit Malakai Rakula and went to his own nets, levelling the game. The goal almost finished the chances of Lautoka to score all three goals needed in the remaining minutes of the game.
Kolinio Sivoki still managed to score a brilliant free-kick fro the edge of the box at the 78th minute of play, but it was too late for Lautoka to score all goals needed to qualify for the semi-finals. Despite the faillure, the Blues got their second win of the tournament by 2-1, finishing the group tied in points with Nadi and Suva, but with a worse goal difference.
The current champions of Battle of Giants gave no chances at all for Tagi Vonolagi’s Nasinu side. The Delta Tigers did not need to field players such as Tevita Waranaivalu to beat Nasinu by 7-0 in a muddy Subrail Park at the third matchday of Fiji FACT group stage.
Nasinu started finishing first to the goal, but at the 12th minute of play the star Setareki Hughes counted on bad goalkeeping from Nasinu’s Epeli Loaniceva to start the party of the team coached by Marika Rodu. France Catarogo scored the second for Rewa in an easy tap-in goal; Setareki’s brother Bruce Hughes still managed to score a brace in the first half to double Rewa’s lead to 4-0.
Bruce Hughes (N.9) celebrates one of his goals – Fiji FA Media
Nasinu emerged stronger in the first minutes of the second part of the game, but Rewa managed to keep the danger away from its own box. The midfielder Sailosi Rayaqona managed to score one more for Rewa at the 76th minute of the game with an empty-net.
One spectacular moment happened when the 39-time international for Fiji goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau entered in the field as a striker. The 38-year-old, with the game already decided in favour of his side, decided to try to score. The goalkeeper also played in this position in the past, but this time was especial for him: Tamanisau managed to score the 6th goal of Rewa in the process with a strong finish. The veteran also managed to assist for the 7th goal of his team that was scored by Shavnil Prasad.
The emphatic win gives Rewa the top of its group and a ticket for the semi-finals of the 2020 Fiji FACT while Nasinu leaves the tournament with three defeats in three games. You can check the full results and table of the tournament so far by visiting our page of the competition.
Football lovers are mourning the passing of Diego Armando Maradona, one of the greatest players of all time. As a tribute to him, we bring you the story of when Oceania crossed his path in 1993. The original version of the text was written in Portuguese by Futebol Portenho, a Brazilian channel specialized in Argentinean football.
The FIFA World Cup qualifiers were initially set up for the 1934 FIFA World Cup. However, it was only for 1998’s edition that CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation) changed its format so all nations begin to play with each other. Actually, it was for 2002’s edition that all nations faced each other, as Brazil did not have to fight for a place in the 1998 FIFA World Cup because they were World Champions in 1994.
In 1934, Argentina qualified without playing: they would fight for a spot against Chile, but the Chileans give up. From 1938 to 1954, different reasons led La Albiceleste itself to give up participating in the Qualifiers. Since then, the Argentinians only failed to qualify for FIFA World Cup once, in 1970.
Argentina became one of the most important National Teams in the world by winning FIFA World Cup twice: 1978 and 1986. They also reached the final in 1990, but they were defeated by West Germany. La Albiceleste also remained undefeated between 1991 and 1993. They also won winning twice the Copa America in this period.
Despite the great moment, the Argentinians suffered a lot to qualify for 1994 FIFA World Cup. It was in this qualifier that the two-year unbeaten streak was broken, in a 2-1 defeat to Colombia. Even with that defeat, La Albiceleste still had a chance to qualify for the World Cup – and that was when one of the most emblematic defeats in the history of Argentinian football happened: a painful 5-0 defeat against Colombia in Buenos Aires.
With these results, Argentina had to fight for a spot in the World Cup by playing the Inter-Continental Play-off against Australia, which at the time was still a member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). For this challenge, head coach Alfio Basile called up Diego Armando Maradona, who had been out of the national team since February of that year.
Maradona (right) before the match against Australia
In the first leg, an 1-1 draw in Sydney, the city that had been chosen to host the 2000 Olympics a few weeks earlier, with Maradona playing the whole match – El Gráfico, Argentina’s leading sports magazine, acknowledged in its post-game edition: “[the Argentine national team is] close to the world stage, far from football”.
The second leg was contested at Monumental de Núñez in Buenos Aires, and Don Diego helped his National Team to defeat the Socceroos by 1-0. This result qualified the South American side to 1994 FIFA World Cup, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of Australians, who almost returned to the world stage after 20 years. You can watch both matches by clicking here.
Maradona was part of Argentina’s squad at 1994 FIFA World Cup, his fourth and last one with La Albiceleste. He played two matches and scored one goal against Greece in the opening round of the tournament. Argentina was knocked-out by Romania in the Round of 16 and Brazil was crowned World Champions for the fourth time in history after defeating Italy in the final clash.
Lautoka’s starting eleven against Navua – Fiji FA Media
Nadi defeated Navua by 4-1 in the opening game of Fiji FACT’s third matchday, and this result puts Lautoka in trouble right before their clash against Suva: the Bluez must win by three or more goals to qualify for the semi-finals.
The conjecture of the clash between Lautoka and Suva changed completely a few hours before the start of the match. Before, it was possible for both teams to advance to the semi-finals. Now, however, only one will remain alive in the tournament at the end of the day.
On the other hand, Suva advance to the semi-finals even losing by two goals. Despite the comfortable advantage, the Capital City Boys cannot lose focus on this important game, as Lautoka will come all out to fight for a big win.
This match is scheduled to kick-off at 4pm (local time) at Subrail Park in Labasa. You can check more information about 2020 Fiji FACT by clicking here.
The experienced Avinesh Suwamy was once again the decisor for Nadi; this time against Navua at Fiji FACT group stage matchday three. Despite the favouritism, it was Navua who took the lead thanks to a goal of the veteran player Seveci Rokotakala at the 23th minute of play.
Minutes later, the same Seveci Rokotakala commited a handball inside the penalty box – a penalty was awarded to Nadi. Suwamy made no mistake from the spot with a powerful kick to level the game. The result of the first 45 minutes was 1-1.
The final part of the game was almost totally dominated by Nadi. Both sides had to deal with a terrible pitch, but Nadi managed to pull upfront thanks to the striker Sakaraia Naisua. The player chested the ball down in the are and finished calmly to Navua’s nets.
Avinesh Suwamy was decisive for Nadi – Fiji FA Media
Rusiate Matarerega coming from the bench scored another for Nadi at the 62th minute of play. The result was still not enough for Nadi to confirm their spot at the semi-finals of Fiji FACT as they needed to overcome Navua by atleast three goals.
The decisive goal came in the injury time thanks to, once again, the captain Suwamy. A fantastic free-kick from long range that lobbed the opposition to goalkeeper to confirm his side spot at the decisive part of the tournament. You can see the fantastic goal clicking here.
Navua leaves the tournament with three defeats in three matches, conceding a total of 11 goals and scoring four. Nadi has now six points – two wins from three games and one defeat – and will force Lautoka into winning Suva by at least three goals to qualify for the semi-finals; taking the place from Suva if they do so.
The third matchday of 2020 Fiji FACT kicked-off at Subrail Park in Labasa, with an important clash between Nadi and Navua. As expected, the pitch is not suitable for football matches, and what we are watching is something similar to the sport we know as football.
Both sides had difficulties to keep the ball possession, turning the game into a Kick and Rush festival. What is applauded by many should be a cause for shame: The third matchday of Fiji FACT should have been postponed, not only for the conditions of the pitch, but also to preserve players’ physical integrity, who will be playing back to back games on a field inappropriate for sports practice. Teams should refuse to play in such conditions.
More matches are going to be contested at Subrail Park until Sunday. The excessive number of games, together with the rain, can turn the pitch into something even worse for the finals. Good football cries as it watches this festival of horrors promoted by Fiji Football Association.
Oceania Football Center 