Oceania Football Center

Ba: knee injury denies Misiwani Nairube’s BOG participation

Ba’s first choice goalkeeper Misiwani Nairube will not be taking part of the 2020 Battle of Giants. As it was recently released by Fiji FA, the player is not listed in the Men in Black squad for the tournament and will force the coach Ronil Kumar to keep playing the 17-year-old Isikeli Sevanaia in his place.

Recently, Nairube talked to Oceania Football Center and explained about his injury – that was sustained in the win of Ba against Lautoka by 2-1 – and the possibilities to be not playing the Battle of Giants.

Nairube missed all latest matches of Ba in the Vodafone Premier League and will expect to be fully recovered to help Ba in the rest of national league and in the upcoming tournaments of the season.

Ba is in very hard pool in BOG alongside Suva, Labasa and Nasinu. The competition is set to start this Friday (07th Aug) in Lautoka.

Samuela Nabenia out of Rewa’s squad for Battle of Giants

One of the best profiles of Fijian football to be left out of the traditional Battle of Giants contest, that is starting this weekend in Lautoka, is Rewa’s midifidler Samuela Nabenia. Rewa recently released its squad for the 2020 Battle of Giants, where Nabenia was not listed. Oceania Football Center confirmed with the player that stated he will not be representing Rewa in this competition.

Rewa is in a complicated group in the competition alongisde Lautoka, Navua and Nadi. The tournament is set to this start this Friday (07th Aug) at Churchil Park, Lautoka.

Anginesh Prasad strengthens Suva’s staff for 2020 Battle of the Giants

Suva’s staff is going to have a strong addition for Battle of the Giants that kicks-off on Friday as Anginesh Prasad was confirmed as the team’s assistant coach for the tournament.

Prasad joined the team on Monday and he revealed to Oceania Football Center that the Capital City Boys have a good squad. He also pointed that there will be some small changes in order to strengthen the team.

SEE ALSO
Afonja Jibola to miss 2020 Battle of the Giants;
Battle of the Gaints’ squadlists

Despite losing to Ba by 3-1 in the last week, Suva has a strong side with many good players and the Capital City Boys are surely one of the contenders to win the tournament. The biggest news for the fans is that talented Iosefo Verevou is confirmed in the squad so he might be able to make his official debut in the season.

Suva won the Battle of the Giants three times in the history: 1982, 1988 and 1995. You can check the tournament’s schedule by clicking here.

Amani Makoe to rejoin Rewa after eighteen months suspended

Fiji Football Association (FFA) announced that four players are back from suspension due to drug use including former Fiji National Team representant Amani Makoe.

It was confirmed by Rewa’s president Nazeel Buksh that Makoe is returning to Rewa. However the 29-year-old defender is not going to play the 2020 Battle of the Giants that kicks-off on Friday. You can check Rewa’s squad for this tournament’s by clicking here.

It has been sixteen months since Makoe was suspended by the federation. He last played for Rewa in a 1-0 win against Suva in the last Vodafone Premier League season.

Kaua and Rongosulia confirmed in Laugu United’s squad for 2020 Telekom S-League

The 2020 Telekom S-League is scheduled to kick-off on Saturday and eleven teams will fight for the title of the major football tournament from Solomon Islands.

One of the contesters is Laugu United that returned to the league in the last year and it was confirmed by reliable sources that the club signed with Atkin Kaua and Jared Rongosulia for the upcoming Telekom S-League season.

Kaua and Rongosulia are currently stuck in Solomon Islands due to border restrictions caused by COVID-19 pandemics. Both footballers were playing for Nasinu from Fiji before the pandemics and they must return to Fiji when borders reopen.

SEE ALSO
Benjamin Totori signs for Isabel United;
Michael Boso to play S-League for FC Isabel United

Kaua is a well known player in Oceania. The 24-year-old attacking midfielder travelled to Europe earlier this year for trials with professional clubs. The player was accepted by one of the clubs the midfielder trialed with but he had issues with work permit. It is going to be his second stint in the club.

Laugu United is building a strong squad for the upcoming season and we can expect a very interesting Telekom S-League with many teams with good players. Laugu finished the 2019-20 Telekom S-League in the sixth position with eighteen points in sixteen matches.

Nawatu and Sivoki back to Lautoka for BOG

The 2020 Battle of the Giants kicks-off on Friday and the official squads were released by Fiji Football Association (FFA) on social media and the biggest news comes from Lautoka as Valerio Nawatu and Kolinio Sivoki are back to the team after returning from suspension.

Nawatu is a 36-year-old forward that is back from suspension due to drug use. Sivoki was suspended for five years because he failed to attend a National Team camp last year but his suspension was lifted and now he is ready to play for Lautoka again.

Nawatu (left) and Sivoki (right) are in Lautoka’s squad for 2020 BOG

You can check all squads for Battle of the Giants by clicking here.

Afonja Jibola to miss 2020 Battle of the Giants

Suva’s Afonja Jibola is ruled out of 2020 Battle of the Giants. The 28-year-old forward from Nigeria suffered a calf injury a few weeks ago and he is not in the squad for the upcoming tournament that kicks-off on Friday.

His last match for the Capital City Boys was on July 19 in a 0-0 draw against Rewa. It is not known if he is still injured or if he was ruled out because he would not be fit on time to play Battle of the Giants.

Afonja played three matches in the current Vodafone Premier League but he has not scored his first goal for Suva yet.

Tahiti: OPT Beach Soccer Cup champions’ are known

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The 2020 OPT Beach Soccer Cup reached its end in Tahiti on last Friday. The tournament kicked-off on July 24 and it was contested by ten teams in the men’s cup while eight teams fought for the title in the women’s cup.

According to the local federation, Tiki Tama was crowned as the men’s cup champions after while Green Warriors won the women’s cup in this edition.

Tahiti is the strongest nation in Oceania when it comes to Beach Soccer and the local tournaments are always a good entertainment for fans. Oceania Football Center congratulates all involved players and teams.

Vanuatu: PVFA Premier League’s resumption postponed

Bad news for football fans from Vanuatu: the 2019-20 PVFA Premier League’s resumption was postponed. The major football league from Port Vila – the capital of Vanuatu – is not going to resume on this weekend.

According to reliable sources, there was a meeting with representants from local clubs and there was an agreement to restart the league on August 8. However the Port Vila Football Association (PVFA) board postponed the league’s resumption to August 14.

2019-20 PVFA Premier League season will resume on August 14 – *Vanuatu Sports News*

This postponement was well accepted by local clubs and some representants have expressed their dissatisfaction on social media – “This break is good for all teams,” said Yatel’s president John Stephens Tougon.

Football resumed in Port Vila in July with the 2020 PVFA Independence Cup that finished on last Thursday. Now local clubs will have two weeks to keep training in order to get ready for the league’s resumption.

Tafea and Ifira Black Bird are currently sharing the top of the table with eighteen points each while Galaxy FC is in the third position only one point behind the top two teams. You can check the current league standings by clicking here.

Marco Rojas scores twice in Melbourne Victory’s loss against Mariners

Melbourne Victory faced Central Coast Mariners at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in Sydney. Both teams are the two worst teams in the current A-League season as Victory is in 10th and Mariners are in 11th.

Victory had two New Zealanders in the starting eleven: Storm Roux and Marco Rojas who scored two goals for his side. Rojas opened the scoreboard in the 22nd minute after a defensive mistake by Central Coast Mariners’ defender Kye Rowles and goalkeeper Mark Birighitti while Roux left the pitch in the 36th minute to be replaced by Migjen Basha.

Mariners equalized in the beginning of the second half with a goal scored by Dylan Fox while Rojas has given the lead back to Victory with a nice goal scored in the 65th minute. However Dylan Ruiz-Diaz found the net twice in the final minutes to give a 3-2 win to the Mariners – “It was disappointing [..] I don’t think we really had too much rythym to play,” said Victory’s interim head coach Grant Brebner.

Central Coast remains in the 11th and last position with eighteen points while Melbourne Victory lost for the fifth match in a row to remain in the 10th position with twenty points in 24 matches. You can check the current A-League standings by clicking here.