Arami Manumanubai playing for Lautoka in 2019 OFC Champions League – OFC Media
The young defender did not travel to Australia with the other players because he was going to play 2020 OFC Champions League for Lautoka. He should have gone to Australia right after the continental tournament but COVID-19 prevented him to go.
Manumanubai is one of the most talented defenders from his country. He represented his country in OFC Olympic Qualifier that was held in Fiji last year.
Thierry Sardo est une personne qui a du succès dans le football international. Né à Toulon, France Sardo a fait toute sa carrière comme entraîneur-chef en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Sa première grande réalisation a été en 2011, lorsqu’il a aidé l’AS Mont-Dore à remporter la Ligue nationale.
Cela fait cinq ans qu’il est devenu l’entraîneur en chef de l’équipe nationale de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Depuis lors, il a emmené les Cagous en finale des Jeux du Pacifique à deux reprises: une fois en 2015, lorsqu’ils ont été couronnés champions en battant Tahiti en finale par 2-0 et une autre fois en 2019, lorsqu’ils ont perdu contre la Nouvelle-Zélande dans le temps additionnel.
L’Oceania Football Center s’est entretenu avec Sardo sur le développement du football en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Vous pouvez consulter l’intégralité de l’interview ci-dessous:
J’aimerais savoir comment vous voyez le développement du football en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Comment les ligues locales améliorent-elles leur qualité?
Le football évolue favorablement avec les résultats mémorables de Hienghène et de l’AS Magenta en Ligue des champions de l’OFC et la sélection pour les Jeux du Pacifique. Récemment, deux techniciens sont arrivés sur le territoire pour former avec des diplômes français les éducateurs et entraîneurs du territoire, ce qui ne fera que renforcer leurs compétences et nous permettra de mieux encadrer nos joueurs et de continuer à les faire progresser.
Comment se déroule le développement des jeunes joueurs en Nouvelle-Calédonie?
Les clubs sont particulièrement structurés au niveau des jeunes. Ce week-end, un nouveau championnat territorial U18 a été créé, un pont extraordinaire entre les U18 et les équipes seniors. Comme je le disais, la formation des entraîneurs pédagogiques sera un outil important pour le développement du football néo-calédonien, en particulier chez les jeunes.
La situation financière des clubs locaux autorise-t-elle des investissements ou est-elle tout aussi restreinte que d’autres clubs dans d’autres pays de la région?
Les clubs disposent d’un budget qui dépend de l’endroit où ils jouent, notamment en Super Ligue, ou lorsque les longs trajets par route ou par avion sont assez importants. Le mécénat ou le sponsoring sont assez difficiles à trouver, encore plus aujourd’hui avec la pandémie civile.
En particulier, l’organisation des ligues et du football en Nouvelle-Calédonie me semble être à un meilleur niveau que les autres pays d’Océanie. Lors de conversations avec certains athlètes d’importants clubs de Mobil Super Ligue, ils m’ont révélé qu’ils ne recevaient aucune allocation de ces clubs, informations qui m’ont surpris. Cela se produit vraiment, à quoi ressemble la séparation des activités entre le football et le travail rémunéré?
Oui, en Calédonie, le football est amateur et les joueurs font de gros efforts, notamment pour participer à des matchs ou des manifestations internationales. Il existe un système qui permet aux joueurs identifiés et proposés aux autorités de faire payer ou rembourser par le gouvernement 18 jours par an pour participer aux groupes de sélection seniors, mais cette liste est limitée et les choix sont difficiles à faire. Certains clubs essaient d’aider les joueurs à trouver un emploi.
Malgré toutes ces difficultés, similaires dans une certaine mesure au reste de la confédération, on peut dire que ces dernières années, les clubs et les équipes nationales ont obtenu de meilleurs résultats que la plupart des autres membres de l’OFC. Quelles sont les raisons de ce succès?
Pour la sélection, nous avons également la chance d’avoir la contribution de joueurs qui jouent dans les 5 premières divisions françaises ou même en Europe ou en Nouvelle-Zélande. Nous avons aussi une superbe génération de joueurs qui jouent dans le pays, sans parler de la nouvelle génération qui a bien réussi à la Coupe du monde des moins de 17 ans.
La fédération française permet de former les éducateurs avec leur formation; elle a un lien fort avec la FCF même si celle-ci est indépendante et autonome.
Comment la fédération de Nouvelle-Calédonie trouve-t-elle en Europe des joueurs éligibles pour jouer en équipe nationale?
En tant qu’entraîneur, mon rôle était de trouver des joueurs qui pourraient jouer pour nous – certains étaient connus ici avant mon départ, d’autres que j’ai trouvés par le bouche à oreille ou qui m’ont contacté. Ensuite, je vérifie auprès de leurs clubs pour confirmer leur niveau. En 2018, je suis allé les voir en France métropolitaine.
Sardo a un rôle important dans la recherche de joueurs à l’étranger
Quelle est votre opinion sur Georges Gope-Fenepej? Il’a été longtemps hors du terrain à cause d’une blessure, mais il est bien revenu en Ligue 2. Il semble que maintenant il se soit à nouveau blessé.
Je ne sais pas s’il est à nouveau blessé car il jouait régulièrement avant le confinement. Georges est plus qu’un grand joueur, c’est une grande personne. Quand il peut être avec nous, il remonte le groupe.
N’a-t-il pas été rappelé récemment en raison de ses engagements envers le club pour lequel il joue?
Georges est toujours disponible pour son équipe nationale et son club ne pose pas de problème sur les vitrines de la FIFA.
Comment jugez-vous la campagne de Hienghène et AS Magenta en Ligue des champions de l’OFC de cette année après avoir été finalistes en 2019?
Hienghène a connu une saison fantastique ainsi que l’AS Magenta. Ces deux clubs comptent beaucoup d’internationaux dans leurs rangs.mils sont les plus gros fournisseurs de l’équipe nationale. Ces équipes sont au niveau des meilleurs clubs de Nouvelle-Zélande et ici, chez nous, elles ont donné l’exemple aux autres. Certaines équipes sont assez ambitieuses pour venir ici cette saison et les défier dans les Super Ligues.
Pensez-vous qu’Hienghène a déçu en phase de groupes de l’OFC Champions League 2020?
Par le résultat peut-être, mais ils ont été très réduits; c’est le problème des clubs amateurs: il est difficile d’être disponible tout le temps.
Oceania Football Center tient à le remercier d’avoir pris le temps de nous parler du football en Nouvelle-Calédonie.
Good news for Oceania! The Trans-Tasman joint-bid is the winner and Australia and New Zealand will co-host 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup!
As Brazil and Japan withdrew from trying to host the upcoming Women’s World Cup there were only two options in the final poll: Colombia and Australia/New Zealand. The Trans-Tasman bid was the the favourite to win as FIFA revealead that they were judged the strongest during the technical evaluation phase as the joint-bid had a 4.1 score while Colombian bid had a 2.8 score.
The announce was made by FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino through an official livestream shared by FIFA official social media.
Both countries have tradition when it comes to women’s football. Australia played seven out of eight World Cup editions and won 2010 AFC Women’s Asian Cup while the Football Ferns appeared in five World Cups and won OFC Women’s Nations Cup for six times.
The upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup will be the first edition with 32 teams. The tournament will be held in twelve venues: seven in Australia and five in New Zealand. Oceania Football Center congratulates both countries for this major accomplishment.
The year is 2018 and Solomon Islands are ready to host the U16 OFC Championship at its main venue, the Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara. The expectations of the local team are high: would it be possible for the Solomon Islands boys to qualify for their country for the first football FIFA tournament ever? The two finalists in the competition would advance to the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which was to be held in Peru at that time. The Solomon Islands were not in an easy group: Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Zealand – the local side would have to fight hard to reach the semi-finals.
The theory was tough for the locals – but not the practice: Raphael Lea’i‘s four goals put Solomon Islands well ahead of Papua New Guinea in the opening game – Chris Satu added another for Solomon Islands to bring the qualifying campaign into fashion. The most shocking result of Oceania football since the 2016 OFC Nations Cup came in Solomon Islands’ second group match, this time against regional powerhouse New Zealand. The Lawson Tama Stadium saw a fantastic performance by the local boys against – they razed New Zealand to the ground with a surprising 5-0 win; a brace from Raphael Lea’i and a goal each for Maxwell Keana, Leon Kofana and Javin Wae made Solomon Islands believe they could qualify. To end the group, Solomon Islands took the lead of the group with another 5-0 win over Vanuatu – alredy the best ever campaign of Solomon Islands in the tournament – and this time counting on a brace from the team’s captain, Charles Mani.
The deciding match whether Solomon Islands would participate in the U17 World Cup or not was against Fiji. Many spectators watched the game in the stands and saw Charles Mani’s double and Raphael Lea’i’s goal in injury time, which earned Solomon Islands a 3-1 win over Fiji to qualify for their first-ever football FIFA tournament. Despite the fantastic campaign, Solomon Islands were unable to win the competition in the grand final as they faced New Zealand once again – although they had won 5-0 in the group stage, the final was much more difficult, with a 0-0 win after extra time. Much to the chagrin of the locals, only Derrick Taebo lost his penalty in the shootout and New Zealand took regional glory.
Solomon Islands U16 team – OFC Media
A fantastic performance – 18 goals in the tournament and only one goal conceded – prompted Solomon Islands to celebrate their first ever participation in a FIFA football tournament. 2019 was the year in which all the magic was to happen. Once again, Brazil stood in the way of Solomon Islands’ footballing history – Peru decided not to host the tournament and their South American neighbours took take responsibility for hosting the FIFA U17 World Cup.
Despite the celebrations, Solomon Islands’ participation in their first-ever global football tournament was threatened as the OFC questioned the availability of player Chris Satu. After investigations, it was determined that the player was overaged to play in the U16 tournament. The OFC and FIFA decided to allow Solomon Islands to participate in the competition despite the case; Maxwell Keana was later also investigated and the OFC confirmed another case of age manipulation which resulted in Solomon Islands being banned from participating in the next OFC U16 Championship.
But it was time to prepare and go ahead – Solomon Islands team played friendly tournaments against European teams in their way to the competition. The Pacific Islanders found out their group in the FIFA U17 World Cup would be very tough: Italy, Mexico and Paraguay – it would be certainly a great experience for the young boys.
Their first game was against Italy – the OFC representatives held the European powerhouse for 24 minutes as Wilfried Gnonto scored the Italians’ first goals. Despite all the boys’ efforts, the game ended in a 5-0 defeat. Solomon Islands had the opportunity to play against players from the youth academies of teams such as Juventus and Inter Milan in their debut in the FIFA football tournament.
Solomon Islands in Brazil before the match against Italy – FIFA
The second game was also tough, with Solomon Islands taking on Paraguay and unable to go three minutes without conceding a goal. Many defensive errors led to a poor performance by the young side as the South Americans scored seven goals to win their first game in the tournament. The group’s final match was against Mexico in Cariacica (ES), and once again, many defensive errors meant that the Islanders conceded a goal in the second minute of the match. The Mexicans would qualify for the knockout rounds with a strong 8-0 win. Despite the result, it was the game in which Solomon Islands came closest to scoring – after a free kick the ball was offered to Leon Kofana in front of goal, the defender was unlucky when the ball hit the post. Solomon Islands conceded a total of 20 goals in the tournament and were unable to score a goal that would have been historic.
Despite the results, this was the first step in the development of the sport in a football-loving nation – much remains to be done to continue the process. Players such as Leon Kofana and Raphael Lea’i are special players who can lead Solomon Islands on their path of football development in the years to come. Their participation was historic – and has certainly inspired younger generations to get involved in the beautiful game.
Tito Vodowaqa is one of the most talented players from Fiji. The 21-year-old forward has recently moved to Australia with some other Fijian footballers to play for Frankston Pines.
The young Fijian players did not have many time to show their talents due to COVID-19 pandemics but Vodowaqa scored four goals in his unofficial debut for Frankston Pines showing why he was one of the nominees for 2019 Fijian Player of the Year Award – “Football here (in Australia) is faster and more technical while in Fiji it is more physical […] Having another Fijian players in the team is a blessing. It is very nice to play with them,” he said.
Tito Vodowaqa is having the opportunity to train and play in Australia.
While the football leagues are not back there, Tito keeps a very important thing on his mind: hardworking – “I want to have opportunities here so I need to work hard to have these opportunities,” he pointed. He also revealed to Fiji Sun that he wants to play in Hyundai A-League – the main football league in Australia – one day.
Despite being only 21, the young forward has already debuted for Fiji National Team. His first ever appearance for Bula Boys was in a 3-0 against New Caledonia last year. His good level impressed former National Team head coach Christopher Gamel who called Vodowaqa to play 2019 Pacific Games that were held in Apia, Samoa.
Tito had opportunities to play and he did not disappoint Gamel as he scored six goals in five matches and helped his country to get the bronze medal in the tournament – “It was very challenging, a really great experience,” he said – “Scoring for National Team is very exciting. I was overwhelmed,” he added.
Gamel left the charge in last August – right after Pacifc Games’ end. Now the Bula Boys are trained by Fleming Serritslev from Denmark and Vodowaqa wants to impress the new coach – “I am working hard. I would be grateful to be part of the National Team,” he stated.
Tito and his teammates are having such a great opportunity by training and playing for a football club from Australia. They are all young players with a long way to go if they keep working hard and make the right choices for their careers.
One of the most promising players in New Zealand, Jesse Randall is ready to move overseas next year as he is committed to join Northern Kentucky University (NKU) from United States of America in January.
Randall is currently playing for North Wellington AFC in the regional football season from his homeland after having a very good 2019-20 ISPS Handa Premiership season playing for Tasman United.
Jesse Randall
The young forward will join his countryman Gianni Bouzoukis in NKU and he is going to be coached by Stu Riddle who is also from New Zealand. Randall represented his country in the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Brazil last year and played all Young All Whites three matches in the tournament.
Good news for Lautoka fans! After losing team captain’s Poasa Bainivalu who left the team to play in New Zealand and Shazil Ali due to a broken leg, it was confirmed that Vanuatu international Alex Saniel will remain in the team until the end of the current season.
According to reliable sources, two teams from Australia and some others from New Zealand showed interest on signing with Saniel after 2020 OFC Champions League but COVID-19 pandemics prevented him to join a new club as the borders are currently closed.
Saniel was approached by some clubs from Australia and New Zealand
Saniel joined Lautoka in the beginning of the year after helping the Bluez to clinch 2019 Pacifc Cup title in New Zealand. He played six matches and scored three goals so far in the season. You can check some highlights of the 23-year-old forward by clicking here.
Oceania Football Confederaton (OFC) is the only continental confederation where football is not professional and it needs to change in order to develop the sport in the region. There is a big gap between other confederations and OFC and making football a professional sport in Oceania will surely help to reduce this gap.
Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF) and OFC president Lambert Maltock revealed in an exclusive interview with Oceania Football Center that one of his plans for Vanuatu is a feasibility to set a task for initiating professional football platform in the country along with OFC in 2021 which means – at least in theory – that the march towards professionalism has started and they want it to happen in the whole OFC region.
According to abc.net, Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA) president John Kapi Natto says plans to turn football a professional sport at the highest level in the country are on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clubs from Oceania are slowly marching towards professionalism – OFC Media
Fiji Football Association (FFA) chief executive officer Mohammed Yusuf revealed that the first professional men’s football league is likely to kick-off in 2021 – “We are getting help from experts running the A-League (Australia’s highest level of professional football league) and also FIFA is backing us on this,” he said.
There are not reliable sources about this process in some nations like Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Tahiti. The Telekom S-League – the national football league from Solomon Islands – still struggle to have a better league due to lack of facilities while New Caledonia and Tahiti have better structured leagues as they are French territories and have the help of French Football Federation, but local clubs face the same difficulties that the other nations in Oceania.
Some other nations are still far away from this reality like American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, but these nations are probably going to have a strong help from the confederation in order to strengthen their local leagues.
Having professional clubs is something really important to increase the level of the sport as football players will finally be able to focus on the sport without the necessity of having another job like the seasonal workers – but it is not enough: It is necessary to improve local facilities and provide good conditions for players’ development.
It is also important to understand that technology, science and football are walking together in the 21st century. Most countries in Oceania are still struggling to understand the importance of getting rid of old and wrong habits that prevent them to improve.
Oceania has a long way to go when it comes to football as they are some steps behind the rest of the world. Now it is time to keep up with their projects and check if professionalism will finally become a reality in OFC.
In the South Pacific region, football is a highly valued sport; the countries fight hard to develop their games to achieve results to make their people proud. We see a lot of talent in the region, coming from all the islands. Vanuatu is one of those nations that have already produced top-class players for Oceania football – their base seems to continue to function very well.
Claude Aru, a 23-year-old midfielder, player of the national champions of Vanuatu, Malampa Revivors, is not an unknown talent. The player took part in his country’s first FIFA tournament at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea; the playmaker even had an assist in the remarkable match against Germany, in which Vanuatu lost 3-2 and demanded a lot of fight from the European powerhouse to end up with a narrow win.
Claude Aru – OFC Media
The talented midfielder has already represented Malampa Revivors in the OFC Champions League and in this edition of the competition he helped his side qualify for the knockout phase of the regional tournament for the first time ever. Aru also helped Vanuatu to reach third place in the last edition of the OFC U23 Olympic Qualifiers, where they lost to Solomon Islands in the semi-finals. In this qualifying tournament, Vanuatu impressed with the quality of their football, even though they failed to reach the grand final.
Aru has played only one game for the senior national team – in the 10-0 win over Tuvalu in the 2017 Mini Pacific Games. The midfielder is a key factor in the success of the Malampa Revivors and played a major role in his country’s U23 national team in 2019.
Before joining the Malampa Revivors, Aru also played for the traditional Shepherds United in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila. A player known for his passing accuracy and good ball distribution, Aru certainly has the talent to get a contract abroad and represent his country at the highest level. The still 23-year-old midfielder is a modern player – he can play as a defensive midfielder, central midfielder or even as an attacking midfielder – his good line-up, vision of the game and passing allows him to create many scoring opportunities; definitely a player who can defend, pass and attack.
Despite all his successes in the local and national leagues and more recently in the OFC Champions League and for Vanuatu’s U23 side, Aru is not constantly called-up for the national team and does not appear to be a key player for Vanuatu’s football ambitions at the moment. Certainly, Aru is a player who is willing to play an important role, play at the highest level for his country and achieve even greater success in his career – a real talent that has what it takes to break through.
After a lot of speculation around the major tournaments of Fiji football season, the Fijian Football Association informed the dates when the three traditional competitions will take place. According to local sources, the Inter-Disctrict Championship will be played from 6th to 11th October at the ANZ Stadium in Suva; the group matches of the Battle of Giants will be played from 7th to 9th August at Churchill Park in Lautoka while the Fiji FACT will be played from 25th to 29th November at Subrail Park, Labasa.
Match between Ba and Lautoka – FFA Media
It was also revelead it was expected the IDC to played at Govind Park, but it is now confirmed the stadium that is currently underdoing repairs after being hit by a natural disaster few years ago will not be fully ready to host the tournament.
Oceania Football Center 