Oceania Football Center

Samoa: twelve teams to contest Men’s Premier League

The 2020 Samoan football season started in the last month with the beggining of youth national tournaments. Despite the beginning of these tournaments, the national leagues at senior level have not started yet.

Football Federation Samoa (FFS) announced through a live on their Facebook account that twelve teams are going to contest the 2020 Men’s Premier League: Faatoia, Kiwi, Lepea, Lupe o le Soaga, Moata’a, Moaula, Sogi, Togafuafua, Vaipuna, Vaitele Uta, Vaivase Tai and Vaiusu. All these twelve teams played the last Premier League season.

Lupe o le Soaga is the current Men’s Premier League champion – *OFC Media*

Lupe o le Soaga and Kiwi are the biggest contenders for the title race. Lupe is the current league champions as the tournament was called off due to a measles outbreak that affected the country in the last year.

FFS also confirmed that thirteen teams are going to contest the Women’s League while men’s second tier is going to be contested by twenty clubs – a considerable increase compared to the previous year when fourteen teams played in the second tier. All these three leagues are set to kick-off in mid August.

Solomon Islands: James Naka returns to Kossa FC

After many years, former Solomon Islands international James Naka is back to Kossa FC. The 35-year-old forward was part of the squad that lost to Isabel United by 3-1 in a friendly match contested yesterday at Ports Field.

It was previously reported that Naka was close to join Henderson Eels but according to reliable sources he is going to stay with Kossa for the next Telekom S-League.

James Naka (right) playing for Kossa against Isabel United – *Isabel United Media*

Naka is back to Solomon Islands after playing in Vanuatu for two years. He last played for Galaxy FC but he was ruled out of the squad that played the 2020 OFC Champions League group stage.

Kossa FC finished the 2019-20 Telekom S-League in the third position with 32 points in sixteen matches. You can see the full standings by clicking here.

Bika and Warisan back to Lae City

The Papua New Guinean transfer window is open and all National Soccer League teams are trying to bring new players to stregthen their squads for the remaining of the current football season in the country.

It was confirmed by reliable sources that forward Obert Bika and Ronald Warisan returned to Lae City after leaving the club earlier this year alongside head coach Peter Gunemba and some other players.

The 2019-20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League is scheduled to resume on this Saturday when Lae City will face Gulf Komara at PNG Football Stadium in Port Moresby. Lae City is currently in the second position in the table with 23 points in ten matches. You can check the current league standings by clicking here.

Tafea beats Yatel to earn 3rd place in PVFA Independence Cup

The traditional PVFA Independence is close to its end in the 2020 edition. Today, at Port Vila Municipal Stadium, the losing sides of the semi-finals matches – Yatel and Tafea – played a very interesting match to decide which side would take the bronze medal from the tournament.

Yatel opened the scoreline in the first half thanks to a goal of the talented midfielder Frank Ruben, but in the second half Tafea equalized through the effort of John Thomas.

Tafea players celebrate a goal in PVFA Independence Cup – *Vanuatu Sport*

The match needed to have a winner – a penalty shotout was required to decide which team would take the 3rd place of the competition. Tafea was able to score all penalty kicks, unfortunately for Yatel that lost one shot giving Tafea the in the 3rd/4th match playoff. “The mach was good. Yatel lost on penalty shoot out again. It was a close one – we scored first, but Tafea equalised just before end of game. Final score on penalty shotout 5-4 for Tafea“, said Yatel’s president John Stephens Tougon.

The decisive clash to decide the champions of the tournament will be tomorrow – Independence Day of Vanuatu – as Galaxy FC take on Ifira Black Bird.

Papua New Guinea: National Soccer League restart confirmed despite capital city’s lockdown

The most important football league of Papua New Guinea, the PNG National Soccer League, is scheduled to restart this weekend – two cities will host all remaining National League matches due COVID-19 restrictions – but one incident put the restart of the matches in an uncertain position: a lockdown was imposed in capital city Port Moresby as a new wave of infections restarted in the country.

Despite the difficult scenario, in a meeting between NSL Board and PNGFA (Papua New Guinea football association) that happened yesterday (28th Jul) it was confirmed by reliable sources that it had been decided league will restart this weekend as previously schedule.

Hekari United players celebrate a goal scored against Tusbab Stallions for NSL – *PNGFA Media*

Despite the good news, the fans will not have the possibility to support their teams in person in the two venues that will host the remaining matches of the season. It was agreed between all parties that no crowd will be allowed in the stadium – but the competition remains as it was previously schedule.

The national league will have five matches this weekend in Port Moresby and Lae. You can see the full schedule for the resumption of PNG NSL by clicking here.

Tuivuna unavailable for Labasa’s first matches in 2020 Battle of Giants

The top-player Atonio Tuivuna will be missing the first two games of Labasa in the 2020 edition of the traditional Battle of Giants. The tournament is set to start on 7th August at Churchill Park in Lautoka. “The 2019 Footballer of the Year was given a direct red card in Labasa’s 2-1 loss to Ba over the weekend and will have to serve a mandatory two match suspension,” confirmed local sources.

Tuivuna’s red card against Ba – *FFA Media*

Labasa, that is the Group A of the competition alongside Ba, Suva and Nasinu, is only at the 6th position of the Vodafone Premier League and might find it difficult to achieve success in BOG as Tuivuna will be missing two key matches in the start of the cup – Labasa’s the current title holders of Battle of Giants.

Marlon Nonone shows his quality despite Nasinu’s defeat against Navua

The Solomon Islands attacker Marlon Nonone played a brilliant individual match against Navua in the last weekend. Despite his side defeat in the final moments of the clash, Nonone skills entertained the fans at Ratu Cakobau Park in Nausori. The 21-year Solomon Islander was influential in every offensive action of the Giant Killers – assisting for the first goal of his side scored by Nasoni Mereke and doing it all by himself and passing by two Navua defenders to score the second for his side. You can watch the marvelous goal of Nonone by clicking here.

Nonone (left) playing for Nasinu against Ba – *FFA Media*

The student of mechnical engineering of Fiji National University, played his club football back in his country for top-tier sides such as Real Kakamora and Isabel United before moving to Fiji. The young player seems to be one of the upcoming stars in the Vodafone Premier League and deserves to receive attention from Solomon Islands national team staff. Nonone, that just scored his first goal for Nasinu, is being a key player for his team that is currently at the 7th position of the national league.

Tasman and Southern to merge with Canterbury for 2020/21 New Zealand’s national league

The New Zealand Football released very important news regarding the next season of the New Zealand top-tier league – ISPS Handa Premiership. After to be forced to finish the league before as previously scheduled due COVID-19 pandemic, the NZF stated everything is clear for the new season that is set to restart in mid-November – but, very important changes are noticed in the press released for the upcoming season.

“For this season, Tasman United and Southern United will join with Canterbury United Dragons to form a united South Island team, under the Canterbury United Dragons banner. The team will play home games in Christchurch, Dunedin and Nelson,” said the NZF, “reigning champions Auckland City FC, Waitakere United, Eastern Suburbs, Hamilton Wanderers, Hawke’s Bay United, Team Wellington and Wellington Phoenix FC will make up the remaining clubs in the eight-team competition,” completed the entity. So, the next season will have only 8 teams as no new franchises will take the spot left by Tasman and Southern.

“We also want to acknowledge the contribution that the players, coaches and staff at Tasman United and Southern United have made to the competition. I’m sure it was a difficult decision for them not to take part this year but sustainability of football in this country in the long term has to be the priority. I look forward to seeing them again in future seasons,” said Paula Walker Chair of National League (Mens) Stakeholder Group.

The governing body also informed that “the Men’s Futsal SuperLeague will run 31 October – 22 November across three weekends […]” and the National Women’s League “[…] will run from the weekend of 31 October and feature teams representing each of the seven football federations“.

Nikko Boxall: ready for a new adventure in Finland

After spending two years in Denmark playing for Viborg FF, Nikko Boxall returned to Finland. The 28-year-old defender from New Zealand joined SJK Seinajöki and made his official debut on Sunday by playing 90 minutes in SJK’s 2-1 loss against KuPS.

That is Boxall’s third team in Finland: he played for VPS from 2015 to 2016 and he also played for KuPS in 2017 before moving to Denmark – “SJK is also a club I am already familiar with and I remember it from my own previous years in Finland as one of the “big boys” in the series. They won the Finnish championship in my first season and did well after that. I definitely want to do my best in SJK’s shirt and be involved in lifting the club back to success,” Boxall said.

SJK’s manager Jani Honkavaara also expressed his happiness for counting on Boxall – “A very tenacious defender and a good team player who leads downstairs with his own example,” he said in a press conference.

Boxall’s next challenge will be against Haka on Saturday. SJK is currently in the ninth position in the table with four points in five maches.

Michael Boso hopes to return to Solomon Islands National Team

One of the most important players from Solomon Islands, 28-year-old defender Michael Boso is currently stuck in his homeland due to border restrictions which means that he is currently unable to travel to Fiji to rejoin Suva.

Despite being far from Fiji, Boso keeps training in Solomon Islands as his situation remains uncertain. The central defender is focused on proving himself to be back to the National Team – “I am working hard to have a chance to prove myself in the National Team,” said Boso.

It was said by Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) technical director Moses Toata that Boso and three other players were suspended from Solomon Islands National Football Team due to an indiscipline case. However there was no official statement about it.

The Solomon Islands National Football Team remains without a head coach as the official appointment was delayed for 2021.