The top-tier of football in New Caledonia is finally back to action as the Mobil Super Ligue restart this weekend. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the competiton had just one round played and now the 2nd round is set to be played with five matches – four this weekend and the match in Maré of Horizon Patho against JS Baco will be played on 18th July. Two games of the round will be streamed by FCF.
After suffering a harsh defeat against AS Magenta in the first match of the league, the newcomers AS Kunié will expect to hold the Jean-Philippe Saïko and AS Lössi at Stade Numa-Daly. The New Caledonian international is set to make his debut for his new club after a succesful stint in New Zealand.
AS Kunié vs AS Magenta for Mobil Super Ligue – MSL Media
One of the most entertaining matches of the weekend will see Richard Sélé and Lues Waya guide AS Tiga Sport against the powerful AS Magenta. Both sides come from important victories in the first round, as Magenta smashed 6-0 on AS Kunié and Mont-Dore got beaten by Tiga with two goals of Richard Sélé.
On Sunday, the current champions Hienghène Sport will host AS Mont-Dore at Stade de Hienghène. Mont-Dore will expect on the talent of Cédric Decoire to stun the home side. Hienghène did not give any chances for Horizon Patho in the first match of season with a strong 5-1 victory. Also on Sunday, the final match of the weekend, AS Wetr will take on SC Ne Drehu on Stade Numa-Daly – Wetr had imposed a harsh defeat to JS Baco away from in Koné by 4-0, as Ne Drehu counting on the likes of Yorick Hnautra defeated AS Lössi in Lifou by 2-1.
You can see the latest results and uptated standings of Mobil Super Ligue by clicking here.
Recently, Kapi Natto informed to ABC from Australia that the COVID-19 pandemic put on hold much of the projects he had for FA in the past months: “Looking to the future, Mr Kapi Natto, says plans for soccer to turn professional at the highest level in PNG are on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as is the appointment of a new national coach,” appointed the Australian media source. It is also known that PNGFA is still in debts with Flemming Serritslev as the coach did not receive all his payments agreed in contract – much of this due the bad management of former OFC and PNGFA president David Chung.
Reggie Davani – OFC Media
Oceania Football Center recently talked to former Papua New Guinea international Reginald Davani; in an interview the Papua New Guinea football legend stated his aim to coach the Kapuls: “[…] it’s no secret that I would love to coach the national team one day. I played for my country for many years and I was the assistant coach in the last World Cup campaign – our best campaign ever in our history. It would be a huge honor to take on the responsibility and continue the work that was achieved before,” explained Davani.
It is known that PNGFA is expecting to hire a new head coach for the national team coming from Europe; but none of these profiles might have what Davani has: local knowledge. The preference for an overseas name for the national team is reasonable as the coaching courses of Oceania are not in the same level of other confederations at the moment. Many of the local coaches in Oceania might have as only good point the local knowledge about the players and football culture around the region, but this is definitively not the case of Reggie Davani.
As a player there are no doubts of what Davani achieved – he is one of the few Papua New Guineans that played professionally overseas, counting on experiences in teams such as Auckland City in New Zealand and Hume City in Australia. Davani has everything to continue in a good way the work of Serritslev, as mentioned he was part of the Danish coach staff in the historic campaign in OFC Nations Cup back in 2016 when the Kapuls hold New Zealand to a draw in the grand final, but were beaten by the All Whites in the penalty shootout.
Currently, Davani is the head coach of senior men’s team of Western Pride in Australia in Queensland, Australia as he is also part of local federation techincal activities to boost the football in the region. The experience of the now 40-year-old as a coach is something already notable.
The experience of Davani in the pitch plus his achievements as coach, as member of Papua New Guinea national team staff and in Australia, make him a strong candidate to take the job with PNGFA. His credentials show that he is more than capable to guide the national team to even more success than the in recent years, counting on great new talent coming up from PNG National Soccer League and also overseas football.
Grover Harmon is re-elected as Tupapa Maraerenga’s president. The 30-year-old player will remain as the president of the biggest football club from Cook Islands until 2024.
The official announcement was made through Tupapa Maraerenga’s official page on Facebook – “We are pleased to announce that the following amazing persons have been elected as the Tupapa Maraerenga FC Executive Committee Members for 2020-2024,” said the statement.
Grover Harmon playing for Tupapa Maraerenga in 2018 OFC Champions League – OFC Media
Mii Piri-Savage is going to be the club’s Vice President while Pauline Dean and Tokoa Harmon will be Secretary and Treasurer, respectively.
Grover is well known in Oceania due to his commitment with football in his nation. He played seven OFC Champions League editions and represented Cook Islands National Team in ten matches. His young brother Lee is currently playing for Ellerslie AFC from New Zealand.
The 2020 Vodafone Premier League season is going to resume on Saturday when Ba and Navua will clash at Fiji FA Academy. Both teams live different realities but they want the same: come back home with three points.
After a shameful campaign in 2020 OFC Champions League, Ba turns its attention to the national football league in order to get closer to the leaders. It is important to remember that the Men in Black played only one match so far in the league – a 1-0 win against Rewa – because Ba’s matches were postponed in order to give them more time to prepare for OFC Champions League group stage.
On the other hand, current bottom-placed team Navua managed to grab only one point in four league matches before COVID-19 pandemics. They now need to get down to business and win some matches otherwise they will return to the Senior League in the next year. Navua’s president Rajeev Prasad expressed his optimism about the upcoming clash – “Well I have said it before, for me I want to taste a win and beating Ba will be a good start for Navua,” he said.
Prasad also confirmed that two new players joined the team: striker Apisai Smith and goalkeeper Josaia Ratu – “Players are really motivated and looking forward to the resumption of the league,” revealed the team’s president.
This match is going to be different when it comes to attendance as only 350 fans will be allowed to enter in the stadium – “Government has only allowed 50% of the capacity so we have restricted to half the capacity of the Fiji FA Academy ground,” said Fiji Football Association Rajesh Patel.
A light at the end of the tunnel for football fans from New Caledonia. After Caledonia Channel’s annoucement that 2020 Mobil Super Ligue – the top-tier of New Caledonian football – matches were not going to be broadcasted due to budget cuts made by the channel’s shareholders, the New Caledonian Football Federation (FCF) revealed that they are going to stream the league matches in their own YouTube Channel.
Basically the Mobil Super Ligue’s broadcasting system will be the same as two matches are going to be streamed on every Saturday just like it used to be done by Caledonia Channel. The biggest difference is that they are going to be streamed on FCF YouTube Channel and Mobil Super Ligue’s Facebook Page.
Mobil Super Ligue will be broadcasted by the local federation
The current Mobil Super Ligue season resumes this weekend and these two matches will be broadcasted for free: AS Kunié vs AS Lössi (13h55 local time) and Tiga vs AS Magenta (16h55 local time). You can check the current league standings by clicking here.
Labasa will count on the talent of the young goalkeeper Mohammed Alam in the 2020 Vodafone Premier League. The player confirmed the transfer in talks to Oceania Football Center. Alam already represented teams such as Navua and Nasinu in his career and now he is set to represent the Babasiga Lions.
It is known the player has a deal with New Zealand-based side Manukau United; according to the player he was allowed to continue playing in Fiji top-tier league during his wait to return to New Zealand. The international borders of the country are still closed as a measure to prevent the entering of coronavirus in New Zealand, forcing so Mohammed to a longer wait than usual.
Alam when Navua player – Fiji FA Media
The 20-year-old goalkeeper was already called up for Fiji National Team and represented his country in the last edition of OFC U23 Olympic Qualifiers where played lost in the semifinal for New Zealand. Akuila Mateisuva is normally the first choice goalkeeper of Labasa, but now the coach Ronil Lal can certainly count the talent of Alam. The 20-year-old stated that both him and Akuila are members of the Police force in Fiji – “It is not always we have our leave from the work to compete, so now Labasa can count on two good goalkeepers when incidentals happen”, said Alam.
The Vodafone Premier League is set to restart this weekend with the match Navua against Ba on Saturday – Labasa and the other districts are just going to play their first games after the forced break due COVID-19 pandemic in the next weekend.
The player is the attacking midfielder Ravnesh Singh that played an important role for Labasa in their winning streak in 2019 – the Babasiga Lions won both Battle of Giants and Inter-District Championship being Singh a regular starter in the team coached by Ronil Lal.
Ravnesh Singh as a Suva player – Fiji FA
It is known that Singh had left his appartment in Labasa few days ago and was already in advanced talks to move back to Fiji’s capital side. The player already represented Suva in the past and he is now returning to the now coached team by Babs Khan.
Some other transfers were already confirmed by Fiji FA: Some of the major transfers that have been approved are: Paulo Buke (Ba to Nadroga), Ravnit Chand (Suva to Tavua), Sidharth Kumar (Rewa to Tavua), Patrick Sarwan (Ba to Nasinu), Semi Vakatalai (Tavua to Nasinu), Isikeli Ratucava (Suva to Nasinu), Apisai Smith (Navua) and Josaia Ratu (Tavua to Navua) – as reported by FBC.
The Fijian international Paulo Buke decided to leave Ba after some seasons with the Men in Black in order to move back to his former district team Nadroga. The transfer is already confirmde by Fiji FA. The attacker got national recognition with Nadroga and caught the interest of Ba, then the player that also works as a police officer decided to move the Fijian powerhouse.
Buke playing for Nadroga in 2018
Buke caught attention of the then Fiji National Team head coach Christophe Gamel – the played was called-up for the national team. Buke made his debut for the Bula Boys in a friendly match against Malaysia in 2018 and also played two friendly matchs for Gamel’s coached side against Solomon Islands and Singapore.
The still 24-year-old attacker has still a lot to give to football, having certainly the talent to break in the best teams of Fijian football scenario. Paulo decided to move back to Nadroga in the current transfer window to help the team to fight for promotion to Vodafone Premier League; Nadroga will be battling with teams such Tavua and Savusavu in order to get a place in the 2021 season of the top-tier league of Fiji and they will be certainly happy to count with the quality of Buke upfront once again.
Buke will be expecting to have a fresh restart of his football career moving back to Nadroga, as the player seemed not to have space in Ba’s squad in the past major tournaments played by the team.
A good news for football fans from Fiji! The local federation announced a partnership with the Fijian Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) for the live telecast of 2020 Vodafone Premier League – the top-tier of Fijian football.
Fiji Football Association (FFA) president Rajesh Patel revealed that a three-month contract was signed with FBC and every week one match of Premier League will be telecasted on TV for free – “Vodafone Premier League will be shown live on television and it won’t be the last one as I can promise,” Patel said.
Every week one match will be telecasted by FBC – Fiji FA Media
It was a very good action by FFA as the local league matches can not receive a big number of fans due to COVID-19 restrictions so having one football match being telecasted every week will help to keep fans close to the league. The first match to be telecasted on FBC will be the clash between Ba and Navua on Saturday.
La famille Tehau est, il est vrai, l’une des familles les plus connues dans le domaine du football océanique. Lorenzo Tehau, Alvin Tehau, Jonathan Tehau et Teaonui Tehau ont vécu l’un des moments les plus importants de leur histoire du football lors de la Coupe des Confédérations 2013 – où Tahiti a affronté le Nigeria, l’Espagne et l’Uruguay après avoir remporté la Coupe des Nations de l’OFC en 2012.
Roonui Tehau est une nouvelle étoile montante non seulement dans le football Tahitien mais aussi dans toute l’Océanie. Roonui a joué dans les plus grands clubs de son pays, a participé à la Ligue des champions de l’OFC et a été le capitaine de l’équipe U-20 de Tahiti qui a qualifié les Tahitiens pour la deuxième fois de l’histoire pour la Coupe du Monde U-20. En 2019, le jeune Tehau a guidé ses coéquipiers dans une mission courageuse pour représenter le pays et le continent en Pologne – où la compétition était organisée. Les défaites face au Sénégal, à la Pologne et à la Colombie n’ont pas effacé la bonne génération qui se prépare à Tahiti.
Le Oceania Football Center s’est récemment entretenu avec le milieu de terrain de l’AS Dragon qui est actuellement en stage d’entraînement avec l’équipe nationale de Tahiti, qui se prépare pour les qualifications à la Coupe du Monde de 2022 au Qatar.
Roonui Tehau
Tehau est un nom de famille connu du football tahitien, n’est-ce pas? Il me semble que tous les Tehau jouent au bon football. Avez-vous un lien de parenté avec ceux qui emmèneront Tahiti à la Coupe des Confédérations en 2013?
Oui Tehau est un nom connu dans le football Tahitien notamment grâce à mon frère Teaonui Tehau le meilleur buteur du championnat et ceux qui ont qualifié Tahiti en 2013 ce sont mes cousins Alvin Tehau, Lorenzo Tehau et Jonathan Tehau celui qui a marqué un but en 2013 contre le Nigeria.
Vous avez joué dans la Ligue des champions d’Océanie, les équipes de jeunes de Tahiti et la Ligue 1 Vini. Parlez-nous un peu de votre carrière dans les clubs.
Alors j’ai été former à l’as venus depuis petit ou j’ai gagner des championnats en catégorie jeune ensuite a l’âge de 15 ans j’ai jouer mon premier match en Ligue 1, en 2017 on a participé à la ligue des champions d’Océanie ou j’ai marqué mon premier but en Ligue des Champions contre Lautoka, en 2018 j’ai quitté l’as venus pour aller à l’as dragon pour des raisons professionnelles et pour me donner un lancer challenge et je joue pour l’AS Fragon maintenant. Avec Dragon j’ai participé à la Coupe de France en 2018.
Oh oui, il faut partager sa carrière entre le travail et le football, non?
Oui puisque on est que des amateurs. Dès que Dragon ma proposé du travail j’ai pas hésiter.
Comment avez-vous pu vous qualifier pour le WC U20? Comment c’était de jouer et d’être capitaine de votre pays dans ce tournoi?
Durant cette compagne de qualification nous avions un groupe très soudé et le faite de jouer à domicile sa nous a boosté encore plus. En plus pendant le tournoi on c’est isolé loin de la ville pour ce concentré. En tant que capitaine sa me tenait à coeur de qualifié Tahiti pour la Coupe du Monde c’était une grande responsabilité et je remercie les coach pour m’avoir fait confiance. En plus il y avait de très bonnes équipes comme la Nouvelle Zélande, les Solomons, la Nouvelle Calédonie…
Comment s’est passée l’expérience en Pologne?
C’était comme un rêve qui se réalisait pour chacun d’entre nous de participer à une Coupe du Monde, mais on est vite redescendu sur terre car on savait ce qui nous attendait sur le terrain. Malgré les défaites on est quand même sorti la tête haute car on avait gagner en expérience on a vu ce que c’était le haut niveau. C’était une bonne expérience qu’on n’oubliera jamais.
Comment évaluez-vous la participation de Tahiti à la Coupe du Monde U20? Voyez-vous du développement, des pistes d’amélioration?
Je pense qu’on aurait pu faire mieux que sa durant cette Coupe du Monde, parceque la Fédération a mis beaucoup de moyen pour nous pour notre préparation, après je pense que plus on participe à ce genre de compétition plus on progresse donc pour nous qui sommes un petit pays sa améliore le niveau de jeu de notre championnat grâce à ces compétitions. Et il faudrait qu’on joue plus souvent contre des équipes du niveau international pour améliorer encore plus notre niveau de jeu et notre championnat.
Plusieurs très bons joueurs comme vous, Terai Bremond, Moana Pito et Kavai’ei Morgant pourraient être l’avenir de l’équipe de football Tahitienne. Voyez-vous des jours meilleurs pour le football du pays avec votre génération?
Bien sûr on a prouvé avec notre qualification qu’on avait de l’avenir dans le football Tahitien et j’espère qu’on servira d’exemple pour les générations futures. On a beaucoup de bons joueurs qui jouent à un bon niveau et sa peut que être bénéfique pour l’équipe national. Et avec notre génération et les anciens je pense qu’on peut atteindre des objectifs.
Roonui Tehau vs Colombia – FIFA
Avez-vous déjà été embauché par un club étranger intéressé par votre football? Vous voyez cela comme une réelle possibilité à l’avenir.
Non je n’ai pas été embauché par un club étranger. J’aimerais beaucoup et j’espère pouvoir un jour avoir cette chance.
Comment analysez-vous le développement du football Tahitien aujourd’hui? La Fédération et les clubs sont-ils sur une bonne voie?
Je pense que les clubs et la Fédération mettent tout en œuvre pour que le football a Tahiti se développe, on a des bons championnats dans toutes les catégories. Après comme je disais juste avant pour que sa évolue encore plus il faut faire des compétitions en dehors de Tahiti ou bien des matchs amicaux contre des équipes extérieures mais le soucis c’est la distance avec les autres pays et sa demande beaucoup d’argent de faire tout sa.
La Fédération travaille-t-elle pour promouvoir les joueurs locaux dans les clubs professionnels en dehors de Tahiti?
Non c’est plutôt les clubs eux même qui travaillent pour promouvoir les jeunes comme l’AS Venus qui a un partenariat avec Toulouse et il y a aussi l’AS Tefana qui a un partenariat avec Saint-Etienne en France. Par exemple il y a Terai Bremond qui est issue de l’AS Venus ou sinon Morgant de l’AS Tefana donc voilà la Fédération s’occupe plus du développement du football ici a Tahiti.
Voyez-vous une augmentation du public intéressé par le football à Tahiti?
Oui il y a beaucoup de jeunes qui s’intéressent au football a Tahiti et même depuis la création du championnat féminin.
Nous remercions Roonui Tehau pour ses réponses et nous l’encourageons, lui et son équipe, à faire de grands progrès dans le football haïtien dans les années à venir.
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