Oceania Football Center

Four rising stars strengthen Honiara City for Telekom S-League’s second round

Honiara City is one of three new franchises in Telekom S-League, the national football league from the Solomon Islands. Currently in the sixth position, the team coached by Jerry Allen was the only team to beat Henderson Eels in the first round of the season.

Despite the good start, they want more – and four rising stars joined the team for the second round: Ali Mekawir, Don Keana, Ian Kalu and Junior David. The first three were playing for Langney Wanderers in England and returned to Solomon Islands recently, while David played in the 2019-20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League for Hekari United.

Keana, Kalu, David and Mekawir joined Honiara City for Telekom S-League’s second round

The bad news for Honiara City fans is that Mekawir, Keana and Kalu must not debut this weekend as they are still undergoing mandatory quarantine in Honiara after returning from England. Anyway, the arrival of these four talented players add lots of quality to a squad that already counts on good players like Alick Solo, Junior Annie and Moffat Kilifa.

Honiara City are going to face Marist FC on this Saturday at Lawson Tama Stadium in the first matchweek of Telekom S-League’s second round. You can check the current league standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.

Six more players join Central Coast FC for Telekom S-League’s second round

Central Coast FC are ready Telekom S-League’s resumption as they announced their final 25-men squad for the second round of the major football league from the Solomon Islands.

As it was previously reported, Charles Mani joined the team. However, it was confirmed that another six players have joined the team: Calvin Ohasio, Desmond Hanaka, Fred Bala, John Tainao, Jeff Varui, Thomas Sara. The most famous player in this list is Fred Bala, a 25-year-old full back who last played for Henderson Eels.

SEE ALSO
Rising stars set to guide Central Coast FC in Telekom S-League’s second round;
Telekom S-League’s second round kicks-off this weekend

On the other hand, seven players have been ruled out of the squad: Davidson Tome, Eleazor Konainao, Godfrey Male, Jack Nate Kairi, Jeff Mark, Jordan Lea’alafa and Philip Maeta. It is not known if they are going to join another team for the second round of the season. Anyway, the team coached by Jacob Moli must miss Tome and Maeta who were regular starters in the first half of the season.

Central Coast are set to face Malaita Kingz on this Sunady at Lawson Tama Stadium in the first matchweek of Telekom S-League’s second round. You can check the current league standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.

Telekom S-League’s second round kicks-off this weekend

After three weeks without games, 2020 Telekom S-League is back. The second round of the competition starts this weekend as five matches are going to be contested at Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands.

It is going to be the first opportunity for football fans to see local teams in pitch after the opening of the mid-season transfer window, which is set to close later this month. However, Solomon Warriors’ supporters must wait a little more to see Micah Lea’alafa back to the team as the current league champions are not going to play as they have a bye week.

Anyway, it is going to be a very interesting second round: while Henderson Eels want to stay on top to clinch the national title for the first time, Solomon Warriors will try to bounce back to lift Telekom S-League’s trophy once again. However, we cannot underestimate Laugu United and Central Coast, two teams that finished the first round in the top four.

Henderson Eels are currently on top of the table – *TSL Media*

The opening two matches of the second round are going to be contested this Saturday: Honiara City and Marist FC will meet at 2pm while the clash between Southern United and Kossa is set to kick-off at 4pm. Football goes on Sunday with two other matches: Central Coast vs Malaita Kingz and Laugu United vs Real Kakamora. The final game of the week will be contested between Isabel United and current league leaders Henderson Eels.

All matches are going to be livestreamed by Telekom S-League’s account on Facebook. You can check the current league standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.

2020 Fiji FACT draw released

Fiji Football Association Cup Tournament is a championship held annually since 1991. Also known as Fiji FACT, it is one of the most important tournaments in the country. Initially scheduled to be contested by six teams, the 2020 edition will be contested by all eight teams that are competing in the current edition of the Vodafone Premier League, the national football league.

The official draw of the tournament was released by Fiji Football Association (FFA) this Friday. The eight teams are split in two groups of four teams each. The most interesting point is that we are going to see Nadi and Suva, the finalists of the last edition, together in Group B along with Lautoka and Navua, while Ba, Labasa, Nasinu and Rewa are drawn in the Group A.

Nadi are the current Fiji FACT champions – *Fiji FA Media*

Although they have not lifted the Fiji FACT trophy since 2010, Ba are the biggest champions in the history of the tournament with eight titles, followed by Nadi (5) and Labasa (4). This year’s edition is scheduled to kick-off on 21st November at Churchill Park in Lautoka while the final clash will be contested at Subrail Park in Labasa on 29th November. You can check more details about the tournament by clicking here.

Rising stars set to guide Central Coast FC in Telekom S-League’s second round

Central Coast FC is one of three new franchises in Telekom S-League, the national football league from the Solomon Islands. Despite being debutants, the team coached by Jacob Moli plays in a good level, justifying their good campaign in the first round of the league.

Currently in the fourth position with eighteen points, Central Coast have a solid defensive system composed by young players like goalkeeper Phillip Mango, central backs Alfred Keni and William Komasi, left back Alick Kitalo and defensive midfielder Javin Wae. However, Central Coast FC have the third worst offensive record in the league this season with only eleven goals scored in ten matches.

Central Coast’s starting eleven in a Telekom S-League match – *Telekom S-League Media*

One of the team’s biggest problems was the lack of a player who is responsible for scoring a good number of goals: Philip Ropa was the team’s top scorer in the first round with three goals, while Atana Fa’arodo found the net twice. Densly Geseni, a promising forward who is an important part of the team, finished the first round with only one goal.

The coaching staff identified this problem and announced the arrival of Charles Mani, one of the most promising forwards in local football, who will have to deal with the pressure of scoring a good number of goals.

With a young and strengthened squad for the second round of the season, Central Coast FC remain a team to watch, to the delight of good football fans. You can check more details about 2020 Telekom S-League by clicking here.

Bua: fighting against all odds to secure a spot in Vodafone Premier League

The last game of Vodafone Senior League, the second tier league from Fiji, is going to be contested this weekend when Bua and Nadroga will clash at Subrail Park in the second leg of the promotion play-off. While Nadroga are in a comfortable position for winning the first leg by 3-0, Bua need to fight against all odds if they want to secure a spot in Vodafone Premier League.

Bua and Nadroga have already met three times in the season and Nadroga won all three matches – two wins by 3-0 and one by 2-0. Despite not scoring against this opponent, Bua now need something almost impossible: beat the best team in the league by three or more goals.

Bua need to beat Nadroga by three or more goals – *Fiji FA Media*

The orange side has been fighting the odds since the beginning of the season: without much money, the team managed to be competitive in the season. They reached the Inter-District Champioship final and they have the chance to fight for a spot in the national top tier league.

Bua are going to have a difficult mission, but head coach Roneel Ram and key players like powerful forward Mohammed Zaid have to step up to give fans a chance to get a taste of Vodafone Premier League.

Allista Kalip and one of the fastest goals of all time

We all know that who scores the most goals wins in football. While in basketball we can score two or three points at a time, in football every goal has the same value, one. However, there are goals that go down in history, whether for their beauty or their importance.

As in other sports, there are also records in football – and, as we know, records are made to be broken. One of those records is the fastest goal: while Dutch forward Roy Makaay just needed ten seconds to put his name in the history by scoring the fastest goal of UEFA Champions League, veteran forward Allista Kalip from Vanuatu also wrote his name in history by scoring one of the fastest goals of 2020.

On 10 October, Tafea FC and Ifira Black Bird clashed in the 14th matchweek of the PVFA Premier League, the most important regional league from Vanuatu. Tafea fans did not need much time to celebrate. Shortly after the opening whistle, John Thomas passed the ball to Allista Kalip, who kicked it from the midfield and lobbed the opposing goalkeeper to open the scoreboard.

According to the referee, Kalip scored in little over two seconds, which could be a new world record. Unfortunately, we do not have a video of his goal, but you can watch a similar goal scored by Brazilian striker Fred in 2003 by clicking here.

Allista Kalip is one of the most important players of Tafea FC. The 31-year-old striker finished 2019-20 PVFA Premier League with eight goals scored. You can check more information about the last PVFA Premier League season by clicking here.

Promising midfielder with Fijian heritage wins Youth Tournament in Australia

The 2020 season of the Australian regional leagues is coming to an end. With this, it is time to meet the great champions of each region – not only at senior level, but also at youth level.

After finishing fourth in 2019-20 Hyundai A-League’s regular season, Brisbane Roar lifted a trophy last week as one of the Brisbane Roar Academy teams won the U-15 NPL Academy Premiers – a youth tournament in Queensland, a state situated in northeastern Australia.

With only one defeat in the entire championship, Roar had a flawless campaign and deserved the title – and one of the most important players in this campaign was Mustafa Mohammed, a 15-year-old midfielder whose parents are from Fiji.

Mustafa Mohammed had an important role to help Brisbane Roar U-15

Mustafa’s father Ifraz Mohammed represented Fiji U-17 National Team in the 90s before moving overseas in 1998. Despite being so young he is highly rated to represent Australia at youth level as he had the opportunity to be with U-17 National Team head coach Trevor Morgan earlier this year.

Oceania Football Center congratulate Mustafa for winning this title. We hope to see him receiving opportunities in the main teams of Brisbane Roar to show his talent soon.

One step away from glory, Suva want to lift Vodafone Premier League’s trophy in Fiji

With a 0-0 draw against Rewa last weekend, Suva lost the opportunity to become Vodafone Premier League champion with one game in advance. However, the Capital City Boys are still on top of the table and they can win the national title even if they are defeated to Nadi this Sunday.

The good news for Suva is that Filipe Baravilala, Meli Codro, Remueru Takiate and Sairusi Nalaubu will were released by the Police to stay with the team in the last matchday of Vodafone Premier League. These four players are members of the Fiji Police Force and they were expected to travel to Kadavu for an anti-drug operation this week.

Suva’s starting eleven in a Vodafone Premier League match – *Fiji FA Media*

Suva won the national league three times: 1996, 1997 and 2014. The Capital City Boys now have the opportunity to lift the Vodafone Premier League trophy for the fourth time in history in front of their fans at ANZ Stadium on Sunday. You can check the current Vodafone Premier League standings, results and top scorers by clicking here.

Fiji: Women’s League to be changed next year

Women’s Football is gaining more and more space in Fiji, both financially and in terms of media, which generates greater interest in the local leagues. Based on this growth, the women’s league will undergo changes for next season.

The sixteen teams of Vodafone Women’s Senior League is currently divided into three groups: North, South and West. The national title is defined in a play-off disputed by the winners of each group. However, it is going to change next year as two new teams will join the league: Rakiraki and Nadogo.

Women’s Football is growing in Fiji – Fiji FA Media

It was reported by Naziah Ali Krishna, Fiji FA Executive Board Member, that the top six teams will compete in the first division, while the remaining 12 will compete in the second division: “The start of a new league and that is for our top division league which is called the Super Six and this is the top six teams from around the country that would be making this league. Then another league below that we will look at the rest of the teams so that we have a highly competitive tournament,” she revealed to FBC Sports.

The arrival of two teams and the creation of a new structure for Vodafone Women’s Senior League are two things that will certainly help Women’s Football gain more visibility in the country. Oceania Football Center congratulates Fiji FA and Naziah Ali Krishna on this initiative