There is no good news for Lautoka fans; one of their most influential players suffered a very serious injury and is on the verge of losing the upcoming Vodafone Premier League games and even major cup tournaments.
The attacking midfielder Shazil Ali suffered a serious injury during his personal training – a broken leg. Lautoka and many other clubs from the Fijian Vodafone Premier League are still not back in normal training. The players are adopting a self-training programme, as they are supervised by their clubs.
Shazil Ali (left) playing for Lautoka – FFA Media
Shazil scored four goals in the current season of the Vodafone Premier League – he is the top goalscorer of the season so far alongside Avinesh Suwamy of Nadi. Shazil also represented Lautoka in their last participation at OFC Champions League last February in Vanuatu.
This is not the first time Shazil suffers a broken a leg – he already sustained the same injury in the past. Oceania Football Center wishes to the player a fast recovery and return to the football pitch.
Roy Krishna is one of the most important players Fiji has ever produced; the 32-year-old striker has already achieved glory in New Zealand and India in his successful career. In 2011 Krishna already was an accomplished player in New Zealand’s premier league, playing for the giant Waitakere United. The player who is born in Labasa returned to his country to help his home club in the Inter-District Championship.
The last time Labasa won the major tournament in Fiji was in 1994 – Roy and his teammates had a long battle to come. The competition was held in the TFL National Stadium, in Suva – the first match of Krishna’s return to Labasa was against Ba, the match would end in a 2-2 draw, but Krishna had a very fast impact scoring one goal in the match.
Roy Krishna playing for Labasa
Labasa finished at the top of the Pool 1 in the championship, that also had Ba, Rewa, Savusavu and Nadi. In the semifinal, Krishna and Labasa took on Lautoka hoping to be back to the final and finish their drought of IDC’s titles.
Krishna was the man of the day as he scored the only goal of the clash to give Labasa the entry in the grand final. Ba would be opponent in the decision, as they won Suva in the other semifinal thanks to a goal of the star-midfielder Malakai Tiwa.
The grand final match had thousands of people in the stands supporting their favourite teams; Labasa counted not only on Krishna, but as well on important players as Taniela Waqa and Maciu Dunadamu. Both sides played a very physical match in a pitch in bad conditions. But the quality of Krishna was something Ba did not have in their side: the star-player created a rare goalscoring chance for the striker Maciu Dunadamu that with a fantastic finish found the top corner of the goal and put Labasa ahead.
Labasa managed to hold the pressure and keep the advantage until the end of the game; finally Labasa could celebrate the IDC glory after 17 years. “Roy Krishna of Labasa was declared the 2011 Courts Interdistrict Championship Player of the Tournament after he helped his team win the coveted Lloyd Farebrother Trophy at the TFL National Stadium in Suva yesterday,” said a report of FijiSun in 2011.
“Krishna means Lord in Hindi and Roy was in tears when he received his prize after the final. “This is an honour but I dedicate it also to my teammates and the fans of Labasa,” he said. The top striker was carried off the field by Labasa fans who enveloped the team as the final whistle sounded and the celebration began“, also is reported by FjiSun.
Krishna holds the IDC trophy
After helping Labasa to clinch the IDC’s trophy, the star Krishna moved back to Waitakere United where he played more three seasons before joining Wellington Phoenix. Currently, Krishna is rated as one of the best players ever from Pacific region, but he never forgot his roots – as we can see in this story of 2011.
Great news for football clubs from Papua New Guinea. It was confirmed by Papua New Guinea National Soccer League Secretariat that PNG Sports Foundation (PNGSF) facilities in Port Moresby, Lae and Goroka have been approved and granted for use.
It means that National Soccer League clubs from these cities can use these facilities for training. Clubs from Port Moresby must make bookins through the VMT at Taurama Aquatic & Indoor Centre (TAIC) while clubs from Lae and Goroka must contact PNGSF offices for access.
PNG Sports Foundation logo
The Papua New Guinea National Soccer League is currently set to resume in August. You can check the current league standings by clicking here.
The current year did not start very well for Rewa’s player Kavaia Rawaqa. The 29-year-old left back missed the beginning of 2020 Vodafone Premier League due to an injury and the football activities were suspended in Fiji when he resumed training.
He was one of the players called by National Team’s head coach Flemming Serritslev to attend the National Camp in February but he got injured and this injury prevented him from training – “I was in the National Team camp but they told me to rest due to an ankle injury,” said Rawaqa.
This ankle injury prevented him to play for Rewa in the beginning of the season, that is why he has not played any official match so far in the season. Now he is fully recovered and ready to help Rewa in their next challenges when football resumes in Fiji, but he recognizes that he had a great support during this period out of the pitches – “My wife always support me. She helped me during this hard time,” he said.
Rawaqa (right) playing for Fiji against New Zealand
Football tournaments are set to resume in the next month and Rawaqa is ready to stregnthen Rewa’s squad for the remainder of the season. The Delta Tigers are currently leading Vodafone Premier League with twelve points in five matches and they are focused on staying on top – “We can keep winning if we work as a team and I am sure that we will move ahead […] We want to win the league,” he stated. Rewa never won the National League and he knows that they need to work hard to achieve their goals.
The left back is very excited to resume playing to have another opportunity to impress Flemming Serritslev and book a spot in the Bula Boys – “I am ready to be back to National Team,” pointed Rawaqa. He made his international debut for Fiji in 2017 and he has already represented his country in 21 matches.
After passing by bad moments in the first semester of the year, he is ready to shine with Rewa and left a message to his teammates – “Never lose your hopes, this crisis is not the end. Be strong and get ready to the upcoming tournaments“.
Terai Bremond is one of the most talented footballers from Tahiti. The 19-year-old defensive midfielder is playing for Toulouse youth teams since 2017 and he was part of Tahitian squad that played FIFA U-20 World Cup last year.
The 2019-20 season was not so good for Bremond and Toulouse. The Tahitian player got injured (pubalgia) and missed many U-19 matches while his club had a terrible season in French Ligue 1 at senior level.
Recovering from injury, Bremond talked to Tahiti-Infos about the next steps of his career and he lets it clear: becoming a professional player is his main goal at the moment. The Tahitian player saw many teammates being promoted to the first team and having opportunity but his time has not come yet.
Bremond is working hard to have an opportunity
The young footballer from Tahiti has already played some matches for Toulouse II – a reserve squad that plays in the fifth tier of French football but he wants more and he does deserve more. The defensive midfielder turns 20 next year and he is working hard day in day out to have an opportunity with Toulouse or any other team at senior level.
Bremond is very talented and he can surely make the next level in France. Tahitian football fans are excited with the possibility of having a pro player in Europe just like Marama Vahirua did many years ago.
After cancelling 2019-20 football season due to COVID-19 pandemics, Tahitian Football Federation (FTF) already has a proposed schedule for 2020-21 season.
According to Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) the next season of Tahitian football must begin in September. The biggest novelty is that the Ligue 1 VINI – the top-tier of local football – will have 12 teams and not 10 because there was no releagation last season.
2020-21 Ligue 1 VINI will have 12 teams fighting for the title
Current league champions AS Pirae will try to stay on top while some strong sides like AS Vénus and AS Tiare Tahiti must fight for the title in the upcoming season.
Excitement, that was the perfect word to describe Ba FC when they have announced Ricki Herbert as their head coach for 2020 OFC Champions League. However it was worse than a nightmare and Ba finished the group stage in the last position with a shameful campaign.
It has been three months since OFC Champions League group stage finished but we did not hear anything from Ba regarding their bad performance in the continental tournament. Bad luck? Bad management? What happened?
Ba had an awful campaign in 2020 OFC Champions League
First of all, the final squadlist of the Men in Black was quite strange – too many forwards and few defenders. Ba announced Papua New Guinean defender Alwin Komolong as part of the squad but he was not eligible to play.
Ricki Herbert did not have many options with this squad and it was a disaster inside the pitch. Many players had to play in positions they were not used to and the whole team was completely lost in all three matches.
Having the best head coach or the best players are not enough nowadays. The Men in Black learned it in a very tough way.
The Fijian national team captain Roy Krishna is attracting huge interest on the football market. The star player had a fantastic season in which he led the Indian Super League team ATK to victory with a total of 15 goals.
It is known that Roy Krishna is studying all his options for next season; the player said he will discuss with his agent about the offers in the table and decide what is better for his career. Krishna already achieved success as player of the New Zealand-based side Wellington Phoenix and in the past season when he helped ATK to clinch for the third time the Indian Super League title.
Krishna already played 40 international matches for Fiji and scored a total of 29 goals for his country; making him the second in the list of all-time top goalscorers of the Fijian national team history.
Football clubs from Port Vila, Vanuatu, keep their preparation for 2019-20 Port Vila Premier League resumption. Two friendly matches were contested last weekend and two more friendlies are scheduled to take place on Saturday at Port Vila Stadium.
The first match is going to be contested by Erakor Golden Star and Tupuji Imere at 12pm while current league leaders Ifira Black Bird will face strong side Galaxy FC at 2pm.
For the eighth straight season, Bayern München wins Bundesliga – the top-tier of German football. Die Roten have beaten Werder Bremen by 1-0 to clinch the 2019-20 national title with two rounds in advance.
New Zealand youngster Sarpreet Singh remained on the bench during the whole game. Polish striker Robert Lewandowski opened the scoreboard in the last minutes of the first half to give Bayern’s the lead. He also scored another goal – and what a goal – in the 54th minute after a Thomas Müller’s cross from the right wing but it was disallowed by the referees.
Bremen had a great opportunity to equalize in the 89th minute but Manuel Neuer made an outstanding save. At the final whistle the score was 1-0 in the favour of the Bavarian team.
It is Singh’s first title as a Bayern München player. Now that Bayern won the league with two games in advance, it is very possible to see him having some minutes in the first team in the upcoming matches.
