Jonathan Spokeyjack: commitment is the key for Ifira BB in PVFA Premier League

The football fans from Vanuatu could finally feel the taste of the sport on Saturday when two friendly matches were contested at Port Vila Stadium as part of team’s preparations for 2019-20 Port Vila Premier League resumption.

As it was previously reported in this website, Galaxy FC has beaten Erakor Golden Star by 2-0 while Ifira Black Bird suffered to beat Mauwia by 2-1. Despite being just friendlies, these matches brought relief to players and fans that were missing football – “Football break was very sad for us. We all missed football while we stayed at home with our families,” said Ifira Black Bird’s player Jonathan Spokeyjack.

Most teams resumed training recently as the local leagues were cleared to resume in Vanuatu from July 1st on and there is a long way to get ready for official matches – “We are expecting to keep a very tight training schedule. All players need to attend every single training in order to be ready,” explained Spokeyjack.

Spokeyjack representing Vanuatu U23 in the 2019 OFC Olympic Qualifiers

This season is being very special for Ifira Black Bird. Currently sharing the 2019-20 PVFA Premier League lead with Tafea, Spokeyjack and his team mates know the importance to keep themselves commited to their objective: win the league.

While Ifira and Tafea fight for the first position, another contender is pursuing both teams. Strong side Galaxy FC is currently in the third place only one point behind the leaders. With a very talented squad, the team owned by Andrew Leong is also focused on 2020 OFC Champions League as they qualified to the knockout stage of the continental tournament.

However it is important not to take Galaxy for granted and Spokeyjack knows it – “We will need to use our experience to win games […] We know how they play. We can not let their players free,” he pointed.

This season was being breathtaking beore COVID-19 pandemics and it is going to be very exciting until the end with three teams fighting for the title – “It is going to be a good challenge. Football has improved here in the past years […] All teams are training hard,” said Spokeyjack.

Port Vila Football Association – the association responsible for PVFA Premier League – has not released a resumption date yet. Oceania Football Center will keep up with the situation in order to bring accurate information for our readers.

Jonathon Mueller: a young Papua New Guinean in Australia

Football is developing faster than it used to do in the Pacific. There are dozens of Oceanian footballers playing outside OFC region in countries like Australia, England, Netherlands, South Africa and United States. We have been recently talking about some good players born in Oceania or with Oceanian heritage that are not very known in the Pacific Islands.

Jonathon Mueller is surely one of these players. Born in Port Moresby, the 18-year-old attacking midfielder from Papua New Guinea is currently playing for Redlands United from Australia. He was one of the best players in 2019 U-20 National Premier League Queensland – one of the youth leagues related to NPL league system by scoring ten goals in 22 matches.

SEE ALSO
Terry Stephenson: a Papua New Guinean in England

Mueller in Redlands United colours. Source: Redlands United Media

The last year was something special for him. While he was ruling the U-20 league he was also having lots of opportunities in the senior team as he played 15 matches in 2019 NPL Queensland – one of the leagues that compose the NPL league system in Australia.

Redlands United is based at Brisbane metropolitan area in South East Queensland. The club also holds a partnership with Celtic FC from Scotland. The Celtic Academy is recognised as one of the top academies in the United Kingdom and in the last five years, Celtic have seen 19 players from the Youth Academy have come out of the program and play in the UEFA Champions League. The partnership brings coaches from Celtic over to Redlands to run a camp where, each season, players are selected to attend a professional trial with Celtic.

With an open path to professional football, Mueller has the chance to be the next breakthrough from Papua New Guinea and play in Europe just like David Browne who is currently playing in Finland. PNG Football Association should pay attention on him.

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Central League kicks-off in Wellington

One of New Zealand’s most important regional winter leagues has kicked-off – finally football is back in action in New Zealand, after a long absence due to a COVID 19 pandemic. With quality football, five matches were played this weekend to open a season that promises to be very entertaining for fans. The Central League is on!

Stop Out received Wairarapa at Hutt Park to kick-off the season. Counting on the likes of Justin Gulley and Nathanael Hailemariam Stop Out edged past Wairarapa by 3-2. A brace scored by Jared Cunniff and another goal by Cameron Mackenzie help Stop Out to kick-off the season in style; both goals of Wairarapa were scored by Joshua Rudland.

At Petone Memorial Park, the hosts Petone took on the powerful Miramar Rangers of Jorge Akers and Ollie Whyte. Despite the best efforts of the hosts, the most experienced side took advantage through Jorge Akers in the early stages of the game; in the 40th minute of play Whyte scored the final goal of the clash to give Rangers a 2-0 win over Petone.

The young side of Lower Hutt could not start the season with a win, as they draw against Waterside Karori at Fraser Park. Riley Bidois scored a late equalizer for the home side as Karori took an early advantage through the effort of Harry Fautley.

One of the most entertaining matches of the first round of Central League took place in Wakefield Park, as Wellington Olympic played against the current champions of Chatham Cup Napier City Rovers. The experienced Wellington Olympic player Scott Basalaj and the high prospect Jack-Henry Sinclair could not start well the season as they lost by to 2-1 to Napier, the team coached by the experieced Bill Robertson. Kenny Willox and Karan Mandair scored the goals of Napier, while Gianni Bouzoukis scored the sole goal of the home side.

Western Suburbs started the season in style

Despite counting on the very good attacker Jesse Randall, North Wellington could not hold their early lead taken at Endeavour Park against Western Suburbs. The penalty scored by Nathan Simes was not enough to an away win, as Xavier Green equalized and the talented Marko Stamenic sealed the win for Western Suburbs.

The competition is set to continue in the next weekend; despite only one matchweek played, we can already see Miramar Rangers at the top of the table. Much football still to be played in Wellington during the new season that just started!

Polemics around Fiji FACT organisation

Recently, the Fijian FA published the schedule of the three main domestic cups of Fijian football – Battle of Giants, Inter-District Championship and Fij FACT. After a long period without football, Fijian fans could finally expect the return of football in the country with the good news from the Football Association.

After another statement from the Fijian Football Association a big turmoil was set around the Following another statement by the Fijian Football Federation, there was a great uproar over the organisation of Fiji FACT. The competition is scheduled to take place in November at Subrail Park in Labasa. The statement that caused all the polemic among fans is that only six clubs will be competing in Fiji FACT – not quite normal when you count all eight teams in the Vodafone Premier League.

Fiji FACT final in 2019 between Nadi and Suva – FFA Media

Many football fans in social media were angry about the decision of the Fijian Football Federation and loudly expressed their dissatisfaction. Doubts were also raised about which six teams would play Fiji FACT – according to the tournament organisers, the top five teams from the Vodafone Premier League, the national league, as well as the hosts, will participate in the tournament. It is expected that the national league will be finished as early as November and the six clubs are already known to be participating in the competition.

According to reliable sources, the decision has been made to accommodate Subrail Park as the sole host for the entire tournament. If there were eight clubs participating in the tournament, the Fiji FACT would have to be played on two weekends and the knockout system would have to be reintroduced in Subrail Park. This would have been very expensive for both the Fijian Football Association and the club districts. It is also known that if Labasa City Council does not meet the relevant stadium certification, the competition could move to either Rewa or Nadi.

The most recent club to win the Fiji FACT was Nadi in the previous season as they beat Suva by 2-1 in the grand final.

Kishan Sami ready for his first season in New Zealand

Former Ba defender Kishan Sami seems ready for the start of the new season in New Zealand; the 20-year-old full-back recently signed with Manukau United, an Auckland-based team that plays in the Lotto NRFL Premier League.

Sami played this weekend in Manukau’s final friendly match against Auckland United on the way to the start of the league on 20 June. The Fijian international played an important role in the friendly, although Manukau suffered a 1-0 defeat. In addition to Sami, Samoan international George Konusi and Cook Islands’ Maro Bonsu-Maro represented Manukau.

Sami playing for Manukau – Manukau United Media

Alongisde Sami, another Fjians recently joined Manukau United: Etonia Dogalau, Rahul Naresh and Mohammed Nabeel joined the reserve squad of the team; Mohammed Alam, Poasa Bainivalu and Malakai Rakula are set to join the first team of Manukau. Rakula played already one friendly match for Manukau, but he left to Fiji due COVID-19 pandemics and is waiting the reopen of New Zealand borders to rejoin the club for the new season. The goalkeeper Mohammed Alam was forced to move back just after signing for Manukau due work commitments in his country – he is also set to rejoin the team in the next weeks. Bainivalu also is still to travel to New Zealand due the same problems Malakai Rakula is having at the moment.

Kishan Sami recently played for Fiji’s U-23 side in the OFC Olympic Qualifiers. He has also played 13 matches for his country at senior level. This is his first experience playing in a foreign club.

American Samoa: 2020 football season set to begin in July

Football activities are slowly resuming in Oceania and it is not going to be different in American Samoa. According to Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) team trainings are allowed to resume in the country from June 15 on.

While football clubs can resume their activities in the upcoming week, the U-19 National Team must be called-up for trainings later this month as part of their preparation for OFC U-19 Championship that must be scheduled soon and the National Youth League is planned to begin in July.

Pago Youth players in 2019 OFC Champions League. Source: OFC Media

The 2020 edition of FFAS Senior League – the top league from American Samoa – is likely to begin in August. Pago Youth is the currently local champions as they won the league last year but they withdrew from playing 2020 OFC Champions League. It is important to remember that American Samoa was affected by the measles outbreak that forced the 2019 FFAS Senior League to be called off.

Singh remains on the bench as Bayern gets closer to clinch Bundesliga title

Bayern Münich received Borussia Mönchengladbach at Allianz Arena in the 31st matchweek of Bundesliga – the top-tier of German football – and won by 2-1.

New Zealand youngster Sarpreet Singh remained on the bench once again and watched Mönchengladbach giving Bayern a difficult challenge. Joshua Zirkzee opened the scoreboard for Bayern in the 26th minute but Borussia tied the match eleven minutes later when Bayern’s right back Benjamin Pavard scored an own goal. The winning goal was scored by Leon Goretzka in the 86th minute after a Benjamin Pavard’s cross from the right wing.

Singh remained on the bench against Borussia Mönchengladbach

This win was crucial for Bayern as they are currently seven points ahead second placed Borussia Dortmund with three matches remaining which means that Bayern can be crowned Bundesliga champions for the eighth straight season if they beat Werder Bremen on Tuesday.

Atkin Kaua: looking for glory in Fiji

Solomon Islands international Atkin Kaua has recently been on trials with football clubs from Malta in Europe. After returning to Oceania, the 24-year-old attacking midfielder joined Nasinu from Fiji to play 2020 Vodafone Premier League, the top-tier of Fijian football.

Despite losing in his debut match for Nasinu, Kaua had a very good start as he scored a hat-trick in the 4-3 loss against Rewa and gave some hope to Giant Killers’ fans.

SEE ALSO
2020 Vodafone Premier League resumes in July
Only six teams for 2020 Fiji FACT

Kaua (left) playing for Nasinu against Suva – Fiji FA Media

Nasinu played five matches in the league before COVID-19 forced the football activities to stop in Fiji. Currently in the sixth position with four points, the Giant Killers want something bigger – “We expect to have a good performance when the league resumes. We want to finish in a good position,” said Kaua.

Vodafone Premier League season is currently set to resume in July. However most teams have not resumed training yet – “We will start training soon,” revealed the Solomon Islands international.

That is Nasinu’s second straight season in Fijian top-tier league. Last season they finished in the sixth position with thirteen points – just one point ahead last placed Tavua that was relegated to 2020 Vodafone Senior League.



OFC to take final decision about 2020 OFC Champions League

While football is slowly resuming in Oceanian countries, the situation of many continental tournaments is still unknown. It was already confirmed that 2020 OFC U-17 Women’s Championship was cancelled but there is no news regarding other tournaments.

However there is a light on the horizon as Oceania Football Confederation announced that a decision regarding the status of other tournaments this year, including the OFC Champions League and the Men’s OFC U-19 Championship is expected to be taken on approximately July 31.

Galaxy (red) and Eastern Suburbs (white) clashing at 2020 OFC Champions League. Source: OFC Media

The 2020 OFC Champions League stopped due to COVID-19 pandemics right after Group Stage’s end. The eight teams qualified to the knockout stage are already known but quarter-finals matches are still unknown as they were not drawn yet.

Current OFC Champions League winners Hienghène Sport is already out of the tournament as they finished the Group A in the last position. You can check all results, highlights and top scorers by clicking here.

Tom Sermanni to remain as Football Ferns head coach until 2021

Good news for those who love women’s football. New Zealand Women’s National Football Team head coach Tom Sermanni had his contract extended until August 2021 which means that he is going to lead the Football Ferns at 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.

Sermanni took the role in October 2018 and managed to qualify the Ferns to 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Sermanni will remain as Football Ferns head coach until August 2021

The 65-year-old head coach from Scotland has a long career in women’s football. He trained the National Teams from Australia and United States. He was also Canada’s assistant in 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.