Oceania Football Center

Lautoka bad moment continues

If it was not Zibraaz Sahib‘s well-taken penalty at the 90th minute of play against Nasinu in the last match of Lautoka in the Vodafone Premier League, the Sugar City Boys would be suffering their fourth defeat in the eight matches so far in the national league.

After a terrible campaign at OFC Champions League this year, Lautoka was expected to return stronger after the COVID-19 break for the Vodafone Premier League and 2020 edition of the Battle of Giants. The new coach Ravinesh Kumar was a big hope for the Blues, but it seems the coach with the best profile in Fijian football currently is not being able to put in practice what his team needs to be back to the winning ways.

Lautoka squad before clash against Nasinu – *Fiji FA Media*

Since Kumar is in charge of Lautoka the team was able to record only one win so far in the season – on 19th July against Navua by 2-1. The Battle of Giants campaign was also very frustrating for the Lautoka fans: three defeats in three games, being knocked-out of the tournament in the group stage.

A team with players of the quality of Dave Radrigai, Kolinio Sivoki and Shivam Naidu should not be in this position at the moment; something pretty awkward is happening in Lautoka to have such bad performances so far.

Despite Lautoka is at the mid of the table with 11 points from eight games played, they still have time to bounce back in the league to contest for the top spots in the national league – but they will need to do it fast and win in the next weekend against Nadi could mean a lot for the team coached by Ravinesh Kumar.

Solomon Islands’ forward Ali Mekawir makes history in English FA Cup

An important achievement for Solomon Islands football was sealed today as the talented youngster Ali Mekawir turned himself into the first ever Solomon Islander to score a goal in the well-known English FA Cup. The player helped his side Langney Wanderers to surpass Tower Hamlets by 3-1 in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup – the first elimination round of the tournament.

Mekawir was not the only Solomon Islander involved in the game; his compatriot Ian Kula also represented Langney Wanderers in the game and ended up collecting the Man of the Match award in his side win in the first round of the FA Cup.

Both Mekawir and Kula travelled to England alongside Solomon Islands’ private football academy Royals for a period of trainings and friendly matches in the country. Both players caught attention of Langney Wanderers and signed a deal to represent the club. Mekawir already represented Solomon Islands at both U17 and U20 levels internationally.

Langney current plays in the Southern Combination Football League Premier Division, the 9th tier of football in England. The first matches of the league will be played on 5th September, but the dream of the FA Cup continues for Langney as they head for the next round of the tournament after beating Tower Hamlets in the first match of the 2020/21 season – counting on talent coming from Pacific might be instrumental for Lagney in the new season.

New Zealand talented Marko Stamenic signs with Danish giants FC København

One more important move for New Zealand and Oceania football; the former Team Wellington and Western Suburbs talented midfielder Marko Stamenic is the new player of one of the most important clubs from Denmark: FC København.

Stamenic was part of the U17 squad of New Zealand that took part in the last U17 World Cup held in Brazil last year. The New Zealanders were knocked-out in the group stage stage after losing two matches for Angola and Brazil and beating Canada in the process.

Marko Stamenic (center) in Denmark – *FCK.DK*

Stamenic was training in Denmark, but he was forced to move back to New Zealand due the COVID-19 pandemics. The player was impressing in Europe and continue to play his club football for Western Suburbs in the Central League. Now, with the borders reopened, the 18-year-old player was able to return to Denmark to confirm his deal for the club.

“The talent department has signed 18-year-old Marko Stamenic, who is a central midfielder from New Zealand and will be part of our U19 squad“, FC København website presented the New Zealander in a press release – “Marko has previously been with us on a training stay, and we are happy that we have been able to attract such an exciting and talented player, and we welcome Marko to FC København“, completed.

Koriak Upaiga’s mistake costs Hekari United dearly

Hekari United’s last match against Vitiaz United should be a happy day for Koriak Upaiga as this clash would mark his return after missing some matches due to an injury. However this game was not so good for him as the 33-year-old left back made a crucial mistake that culminated in the goal scored by Jonathan Allen.

Upaiga tried to pass the ball to a teammate but Vitiaz’s Mathias Oyabua managed to steal the ball and pass to Jonathan Allen who found the net to open the scoreboard in the first half. However Hekari United managed to equalize a few minutes later with a goal scored by Michael Foster. You can check both goals by clicking here.

Koriak Upaiga made a big mistake against Vitiaz United – *OFC Media*

Upaiga and his teammates lost the opportunity to reach the second position in the table as they are now three points behind Vitiaz United. Despite his mistake, Upaiga is loved by Hekari United supporters. The experienced left back has a good reputation and this fail against Vitiaz United does not damage his legacy in the club.

Hekari are currently in the third position in 2019-20 PNG National Soccer League with 30 points in fourteen matches. You can check the league standings by clicking here.

Hekari United’s goalkeeper Ishmael Pole back from suspension

After being out of Hekari United’s squad for two weeks, Ishmael Pole is back from suspension which means that the 27-year-old goalkeeper must be available for Saturday’s match against Gulf Komara at PNG Football Stadium in Port Moresby.

Pole was red carded in Hekari’s 1-0 loss to Lae City on August 15. The PNG Kapuls member was forced to leave his penalty box to tackle Lae City’s opponent, unfortunately he commited a foul and denied a clear goal possibility outside the box – what, according to the rules, is a red card offense.

Ishmael Pole was red carded against Lae City FC – *OFC Media*

Dave Tomare was being the starting goalkeeper during Pole’s absence. Now head coach Eric Komeng has his first choice keeper back. Hekari United are currently in the third position in the league with 30 points in fourteen matches. You can check the standings of 2019-20 PNG National Soccer League by clicking here.

Junior Felix’s performances in VFF National League Championship caught attention in Vanuatu

The young Tafea’s defender Junior Felix was one of the stand-out players of the first ever edition of the VFF National League Championship. The talented player helped Shefa FA to clinch the title after beating Sanma FA in the final by 3-2.

Felix, that is being captaining his team Tafea for a while in the PVFA Premier League, was praised by local media and fans due his performances in the competition. Many of the fans supported the call that Felix is deserving a spot in the Vanuatu national team, specially due the football displayed by the defender in the newly-raised tournament.

Shefa was one of the best defensive sides of the entire tournament having Felix as the leader of their defensive system. Felix club Tafea is also having a very good season so far in the Port Vila regional league as they are battling at the top of the table against Ifira Black Bird and Galaxy FC.

While international football is still on hold to restart due COVID-19 precautions, the 23-year-old central back will expect to continue his good form in Vanuatu in order to impress VFF board to get a call up when the international duties return. The PVFA Premier League is set to restart this month and Tafea will be counting on a Junior Felix in a very good moment of form.

Kosta Barbarouses: the ‘Mr. A-League’

The New Zealand international Kosta Barbarouses was already an A-League star – after clinching his 4th title in the Australian top-tier for Syndey FC in the last Sunday the Kiwi turned himself certainly into a legend in the most important football league of Australia.

The first title of Kosta was back in 2011 when he helped Brisbane Roar to celebrate the glory, then All Whites‘ member was part of Melbourbe Victory titles in 2015 and 2018. Now, in 2020, all the issues of the COVID-19 were not able to stop the premiers Sydney to confirm their favouritism and beat Melbourne City in the extra-time thanks to a goal of Australian international Rhyan Grant.

The 30-year-old Barbarouses already played a total of 231 matches in A-League and scored 69 goals – including both regular season and finals – what makes him the 4th all-time top scorer of the league. In the 2019/20 season, Barbarouses scored eight goals in the succesful campaign of his Sydney FC.

Barbarouses, that already represented New Zealand for 46 times, is certainly one of the most important figures of the A-League of all-time. The player that seemed to be unsuccessful in Europe in stints playing in Russia and Greece, capitalised most of his career achievements in the Australian top-professional football league playing for Brisbane, Wellington, Melbourne Victory and Sydney.

A potential move to leave A-League seems unlikely now for the experienced player – it seems the New Zealander will be looking to lift the league’s trophy for the fifth time in the 2020/21 season as he contract is set to expire in 2022.

Football will restart soon for Barbarouses and Sydney FC as the club is still taking part of the AFC Champions League and the club is set to take on the Chinese giants Shanghai SIPG next month for the continuation of the continental tournament that was forced to stop due COVID-19 pandemics – and the continental glory is something that both Barbarouses and Syndey are still looking to add to their profiles.

What’s wrong with Labasa?

The 2019 season was grateful for Labasa fans – winning both Battle of Giants and Inter-District Championship, still ending up beating Ba at Champion vs Champion series were certainly moments of joy for the Babasiga Lions.

But the situation is completely different so far in 2020; the team is just three points away the bottom-ranked side Navua in Vodafone Premier League and could not defend their title in 2020 Battle of Giants as Labasa was knocked-out in the group stage. In the most recent match of the Lions the inefficiency of the team coached by Ronil Lal was stated especially in the first half: Labasa was unable to hit a shot on the target in almost the entire first half of the match.

Despite starting full of hope 2020 after a brilliant season and the win over Ba in Champion vs Champion series, the Vodafone Premier League first matches shown Labasa had to work extra harder if they wanted to clash for the title or a spot in the 2021 OFC Champions League – something that is still far away in the current scenario.

The BOG campaign was also very disappointing for the fans that expected Labasa to battle for the title. The team just needed to beat Nasinu in the final pool match, but conceded a heartbreaking equaliser in the second half. Despite some fans pointed good signs of Lions‘ performances in the competition, they ended up being knocked-out in the group stage after a very bad game played against Nasinu.

Labasa before the clash against Suva – *Fiji FA Media*

If Labasa counts on star players such as Siotame Kubu and the ‘Fiji FA 2019 Player of the Year’ Antonio Tuivuna – Labasa was the district with most players called up for Fiji national team training camp recently – what is happening with the team? In terms of technical quality, Labasa is certainly one of the top-teams in Fiji.

Although there is still time to recover in the table of the national and to get ready for the next two major tournaments to come, the Fiji FACT and the Inter-District Championship, Labasa needs to be fast and start their recovery this weekend when they take on the bottom-ranked Navua. A win might put Labasa back on track, while a defeat would be disaster putting a lot of pressure on the team that would be now placed in real danger of relegation to Vodafone Senior League – the Fijian second-tier.

Telekom S-League: Joses Nawo is on fire in season start

Henderson Eels seems unstoppable right now; the current leaders of the Telekom S-League had no mercy of their last opponent Southern United in the last weekened of football in Honiara as Eels put ten goals past the newcomers in the national league. This was their fourth win in four matches for the team coached by Eddie Marahare: 23 goals scored and just one conceded so far.

Alongisde the talented Raphael Lea’i – seven goals so far in the season -, the experienced Joses Nawo is enjoying a great start of season. Nawo scored only against Laugu United and Southern United so far, but in both of the matches the Solomon Islands international scored four goals. With his eight goals scored so far, Nawo is top goalscorer of the Telekom S-League edition of 2020 so far.

Henderson Eels seems the strongest contender for the title in the season as the current champions Solomon Warriors is still to impress in their three starting matches so far in the league. The stellar squad of Henderson Eels, that counts also on players such Tutizama Tanito and Boni Pride, might be pleased to count on Nawo on fire in the opening rounds of the season and expect the experienced forward can continue to guide the front line of the current top-placed side.

You can see the current standings of the Solomon Islands’ top-tier league, full results and top scorers so far by clicking here.

Jayson Timatua: the man of the moment in Vanuatu

After the celebrated win of the Shefa FA in the VFF National League Championship, it is time to evaluate the performances of players and legacy of the tournament for Vanuatu football. Despite its very questionable format of competition, new players were showcased in the tournament – something useful when Vanuatu is set to return for international football activities.

Despite being already capped by Vanuatu national team, the young Jayson Timatua might be the player who most got attention through the tournament; the Tafea FC’s midfielder was already spotted by Oceania Football Center after his performances in the group stage of the tournament and then captained his team to win the new-brand tournament against Sanma FA.

Timatua (with the trophy) after winning the VFF National League Championship – *Vanuatu Sport*

The 21-year-old player alongside Tonly Kalotang and Junior Felix were the key man for Shefa FA in the competition. Timatua was chosen the ‘Best Player of the Tournament‘ to prove his very good performances in the process to lift the trophy.

Timatua is expected now to return to Tafea in style, proving his cabalities as a key man of his team in the PVFA Premier League – Tafea is currently battling at the top of the table and will be certainly happy to count on the man of the moment in Vanuatu football.