Lautoka is rebuilding its squad and now it is time to look to the staff. After a terrible campaign at 2020 OFC Champions League, Lautoka management decided to fire head coach Anand Sami and sign a number of players to its squad, after also losing some players in the transfer window and also due injury.
Local sources appoints that former Fiji Football Technical Director Ravinesh Kumar is the new Lautoka coach. Lautoka FC President Shalendra Prasad says his inclusion is a major advantage for the Blues: “Master Ravinesh Kumar as the new head coach will be a big boost for the Lautoka FC team. Nevertheless he is the number 1 coach in Fiji. And definitely he can do wonders.”
Ravinesh Kumar and football legend Ryan Giggs
“Kumar is the first Fijian to be accredited with an A-License coaching certificate and is now the highest ranked local coach in terms of qualification“, said FBC.
The debut of Ravinesh Kumar as Lautoka head coach will be in their clash against Ba this Wednesday counting on for Vodafone Premier League.
The first choice goalkeeper of Fiji National Team Beniamino Mateinaqara is cleared to feature for his new team Suva. The goalkeeper recently signed for the team from Fijian capital, but only now Fiji FA confirmed documents and allowed Mateinaqara to defend Suva in their upcoming clash this weekened against Rewa for Vodafone Premier League.
It is known Suva and Ba – four players from Ba are coming to Suva – are negotiating a transfer fee for the remaining players involved to complete the transfer process.
Hamilton Wanderers is lucky to count on the best of Pacific Islands talent in their team at Lotto NRFL Premier League. After a bad start in the season, Wanderers won two games in a row – and in the last weekend Pacific talent roared in order to Hamilton to a grab a very much needed win over their rivals Melville United.
The Papua New Guinean international Tommy Semmy scored a brace in the match to help Wanderers to clinch all points from the match – both goals of Semmy were all goals scored in the contest.
Former Madang FC, Eastern Stars, Tusbab Stallions and current Lae City FC defender NigelMalagian suffered a seriuous incident in this week. Malagian was rushed to the nearest hospital after he fainted during his daily work-out training.
Lots of rumours were created around the situation of the defender’s health, but after some hours unconscious, the player woke up. Malagian is receiving proper treatment and he is already in a stable situation.
Nigel Malagian
Malagian is already back to consciousness and he remembers exactly what happened before fainting. Despite being better, the player is still in the hospital due to precautions as he will undergo more tests before being cleared to leave the health center.
The world of football is getting hotter in Papua New Guinea as a new transfer window is confirmed by National Soccer League (NSL) Board. Despite opening only on July 25, clubs’ managers are already working on the backstage to add new players to their teams.
The latest transfer window in Papua New Guinea closed in March when Lae City signed with former Tusbab Stallions’ defender Nigel Malagian. It was also reported that Malagian’s former teammate Stahl Gubag was also approached by Lae City’s management but he remained with Stallions.
With the opening of a new transfer window the rumours linking Gubag to Lae City are getting stronger once again. According to reliable sources the 20-year-old forward was approached by Lae City’s head coach Bob Morris on last week. Morris and Gubag know each other very well as they worked together in 2018 at Madang FC.
It is also known that Tusbab Stallions’ management want to keep Gubag for the remaining of the current season but they will not force Stahl to stay if he does not want to.
The 2019-20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League season is set to resume on August 1st. You can check the current league standings by clicking here.
Jean-Philippe Saïkoplayed his first official match since he returned to New Caledonia. The 29-year-old forward played a important role at AS Lössi’s 6-1 win against AS Kunié in the second matchweek of 2020 Mobil Super Ligue – the major football league from New Caledonia.
The powerful forward was the team’s captain in the clash and played the entire match. He had an outstanding performance with some dangerous shots and good passes to confuse AS Kunié’s defense. He scored one goal and delivered one assist to help AS Lössi to grab all the points.However the biggest name of the day was Anthony Timoteo who scored a hat-trick. You can watch the full match by clicking here.
Saïko is currently in his homeland because he is not able to travel back to New Zealand due to border restrictions. It is already known that he will return to New Zealand once the borders reopen. You can check the Mobil Super Ligue current standings by clicking here.
Scott Wara is not a Stoke City’s player anymore. The 20-year-old defender from Fiji was one of the eleven players released by the club this week. The announcement was made through the club’s official website.
Born in Lautoka, Wara moved to England with his parents when he was very young and started to play football seriously when he was 13. He leaves Stoke City after many years representing the club at youth level – “Since I was a young kid I have always dreamt of becoming a professional footballer […] I would like to say a massive thank you to all the staff, players and fans for helping me to grow into not only as a player but also as a person. Unfortunately things did not work out how I hoped they would to but I am excited and looking forward to what future holds,” stated Wara on social media.
Scott Wara playing for Stoke City U-23 team
The Fijian defender was part of the U-23 squad that played the 2019-20 season of Premier League 2, the U-23 national football league. There is no current rumours about Wara but Oceania Football Center is keeping up with the situation to keep our followers informed about his career.
Football officially returned in Fiji on Saturday when Ba faced Navua at Fiji FA Academy. The upcoming day was also important as two matches were played in the opening day of 2020 Vodafone Senior League – the second-tier of Fijian football.
Northland Tailevu received Tailevu Naitasiri at Fiji FA Academy in Suva and the final score was a 0-0 draw. In the other match Tavua visited Rakiraki at Garvey Park in a breathtaking match. Tavua is back to the Senior League after spending two seasons in the Premier League. The team coached by Nazeel Ali managed to hold some important players like Atunaisa Livanalagi, Marika Rawasoi and Varinava Telawa.
Marika Rawasoi (left) remained with Tavua for 2020 Vodafone Senior League – Fiji FA Media
Avinesh Narayan opened the scoreboard for Rakiraki but Lekima Rokosolia equalized one minute later. The hosts found the net for the second time when Kelemedi Matou scored in the 35th minute. Tavua’s Sikeli Sagatoro scored eight minutes later to equalize once again before the half time.
Tavua finally managed to lead the game when Marika Rawasoi scored in the beginning of the second half to seal the 3-2 win. Tavua’s next clash will be against Tailevu Naitasiri at Fiji FA Academy at Suva while Rakiraki will not play in the next weekend as they have a bye week.
The Vodafone Senior League is divided in two zones: Vanua Levu and Viti Levu. The two matches that were contested this weekend are from Viti Levu Zone. The Senior League’s Vanua Levu Zone have not started yet. You can check the current standings by clicking here.
Another important weekend of football took place in Port Vila Municipal Stadium and Korman Stadium in Vanuatu’s city capital Port Vila. The traditional PVFA Independence Cup had four matches on Friday and Saturday for its second matchweek in the competition.
The known Tafea stuggled to beat Yatel by 2-1 in what was first match of Yatel in the competition – Yatel and Mauwia clash is still waiting to be scheduled as the match was postponed. Tafea counted with the experienced Allista Kalip that scored a brace in the match – he opened the scoreline, but then Yatel managed to draw through the effort of Henry, but Allista Kalip scored again in the second half to give the win to Tafea.
Kalip (left) was instrumental for Tafea – Tafea Media
Erakor managed to clinch an important victory over Sia-Raga. Jason Thomas, Gershom Kalsong and the top-striker Tony Kaltack scored the three goals of Erakor Golden Star in their 3-1 win over Sia-Raga; Massing was the scorer for the losing side. You can see the highlights of the match by clicking here.
In a great match, the powerful Galaxy suffered to secure a draw against Ifira Black Bird. Jonathan Spokeyjack opened the score for Ifira, but the Brazilian Roberson equalized just after for Galaxy. Kensi Tangis added another for Galaxy to put it 2-1, but in the second half Tonly Kalotang equalized for Ifira BB. Brazilian defender Diego was sent off in the first half after receiving two yellow cards; “Lots of fans were expecting Galaxy to perform quality football, but we made Galaxy run after ball every seconds and minutes. We lost many goalscoring chances“, said Jonathan Spokeyjack to Oceania Football Center.
The last match of the round saw the team coached by former Vanuatu international David Chilia, Tupuji Imere, to beat Mauwia by 3-1. It was the first match of Mauwia in the competition, as mentioned, both Yatel and Mauwia had one more match still to be played as their clash in the opening round was postponed by PVFA.
You can check the full results and standings of PVFA Independence Cup by clicking here.
Navua could not overcone Ba in the first senior competitve football match in Fiji after the COVID-19 break, counting for the Vodafone Premier League. The locals suffered five goals from Ba and ended up with a 5-3 defeat. The captain Vineet Chand added one in the first half for Navua and coming from the bench the new signing Apisai Smith shown what he is capable of scoring a brace in the second half. The former Fiji international signed for Navua after a stint in New Zealand football and already proved to be a clinical signing. Despite losing their first clash after the break to a strong Ba team, Navua know they will need to battle hard if they want to continue in the Vodafone Premier League next season and it seems like Apisai Smith might be a key factor in the campaign. As the striker Taniela Rakarivadeparted Navua to Labasa, Apisai will be even more important in the squad – the tall striker might be starting the next matches due his very good performance against Ba last Saturday.
Apisai Smith (red) – FFA Media
Apisai scored a powerful header and a penalty kick for Navua in the clash against Ba that ended up in 5-3 defeat. Smith shown his capabilities and the veteran player is set to guide Navua upfront in order to recover the team in the table of Vodafone Premier League.
You can see the goals and full highlights of Ba vs Navua clash by clicking here.
