Oceania Football Center

Miramar Rangers thrash Wairarapa United in Ultra Football Central League

Miramar Rangers received Wairarapa United at David Farrington Park on Saturday in the fifth matchweek of 2020 Ultra Football Central League – the top-tier regional league from the central region of New Zealand.

It was a very important match for both teams. Miramar Rangers needed the win to keep fighting for the first position in the tournament while Wairarapa United is trying to recover after a bad start in the tournament.

Young attacking midfielder Ollie Whyte opened the scoreboard for Miramar in the 17th minute and Portuguese forward João Moreira extended the lead four minutes later. Legendary Paul Ifill scored for Wairarapa in the 32nd minute and the final score was 2-1 at the half time.

Miramar Rangers led the first half by 2-1.

Wairarapa had a quick start in the second half and equalized with a goal scored by Jonty Roubos. However Miramar woke up and found the net four times in six minutes to lead the contest by 6-2. Paul Ifill netted his second goal of the day but it was not enough as Samuel Mason-Smith scored twice in the 66th and 76th minute to set the final score: 8-3.

Mason-Smith finished the match with four goals scored while João Moreira and Ollie Whyte scored twice each. Miramar Rangers have twelve points in five matches and they are fighting for the lead against Western Suburbs. You can check the current league standings by clicking here.

Solomon Islands: Koloale wins Women’s Preseason Tournament

The first tournament of 2020 Solomon Islands football season is over. Twelve teams took part at Women’s Preseason Tournament held at Lawson Tama Stadium during this week to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of Solomon Islands’ independence.

The tournament counted on hundreds of women from many regions of the country – “Women’s football has had encountered many challenges over the years but this competition has shown that we can grow our women’s game to a higher level,” said Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) president William Lai.

Twelve teams were split in two groups of six teams each and the top four teams from each group advanced to the knock-out stage. Koloale was the dominant team in the group stage as they won all their five matches in Group A while Police Blue led the Group B – “Both our teams (Police Blue and Police Yellow) played very well since we only had two weeks of training. Majority they know how to play, there is a few that this is the first time for them to play,” stated Police’s team manager Grace Hilly.

Koloale kept their dominance in the tournament to reach the final and beat Wansol Frigates in the final clash to clinch the title while Police Blue and Police Yellow clashed in the Third Place Play-Off match and the blue team won by 8-4.

Koloale players celebrating the title – *SIFF Media*

“I think such a tournament will help prepare girls for the upcoming league so by having this tournament is very helpful especially for us girls,” said Koloale’s player/coach Crystal Bakolo – “It’s an opportunity for our women to come out and be part of this event. Football is a beautiful platform for women to keep healthy and meet other women […] I hope this tournament will attract other clubs to participate to support women football development in the Solomon Islands,” said Grace Hilly.

Oceania Football Center congratulates SIFF and all involved players and staff members who took part of this tournament. You can check full information about the tournament by clicking here.

Siotame Kubu close to join Lautoka

After losing important players, Lautoka added some talent by signing with good players like Malakai Rakula and Sitiveni Cavuilagi. However the Baby Bluez want more and they are very close to join with a top player from Labasa: Siotame Kubu.

It was reported by reliable sources that Kubu is just one step away from being a Lautoka’s player. It is also known that he was training with Baby Bluez in the past days.

Kubu celebrating a goal for Labasa in 2019 Battle of the Giants final

Kubu is a key player from Labasa and he had an important role in the team last year by helping Babasiga Lions to win Battle of the Giants, Inter-District Championship and Champions vs Champions series. If he really joins Lautoka it will be a major blow to Labasa.

Lautoka’s next official match will be against Ba on Wednesday at Churchill Park while Labasa will receive Nadi at Subrail Park on Saturday. You can see the current Vodafone Premier League standings by clicking here.

Tommy Semmy scores twice to lead Hamilton Wanderers over Melville United

Hamilton Wanderers received Melville United at Porritt Stadium in the fourth matchweek of 2020 Lotto NRFL Premier Men’s – the top-tier of the Northern Regional League system.

It was a very exciting derby and Wanderers deservedly won by 2-0. Papua New Guinea international Tommy Semmy was the man of the match as he lead his team to the victory by scoring a brace.

Semmy scored twice in the match – *NRF Media*

Wanderers’ next challenge will be against North Shore United at Allen Hill Stadium while Melville United will receive Manukau United at Gower Park. Both matches will be played on next Saturday. You can check the current league standings by clicking here.

Ba smashes Navua as Vodafone Premier League resumes

The long wait finally reached its end when Ba and Navua clashed in a historical match at Fiji FA Academy on this Saturday. For the first time ever Fijian football fans were able to watch a Vodafone Premier League match live on TV for free as Fiji Football Association and Fijian Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) set a three-month partnership to telecast the league.

After a bad campaign in 2020 OFC Champions League, Ba came to the pitch with a very different squad as many players left the team while Navua had goalkeeper Josaia Ratu making his debut for his new club.

Samuela Drudru opened the scoreboard for Ba after a well-timed cross from debutant Sumeet Goundar. Saula Waqa extended Men in Black’s lead after a deep through pass from Abbu Zahid in the ninth minute. Navua found the net for the first time in the match with a penalty kick scored by Vineet Chand.

Abbu Zahid playing for Ba in 2020 OFC Champions League – *OFC Media*

Both teams kept finding the net in the second half: Abbu Zahid scored a marvelous goal lobbing Navua’s keeper and Saula Waqa got a brace after another well-timed pass from Sumeet Goundar to extend Ba’s lead to 4-1. Debutant forward Apisai Smith found the net for Navua but Abbu Zahid scored for Ba in the upcoming minute. Apisai Smith still had time to score his second goal of the match from the penalty stop. You can check the match highlights in the video below:

Ba has now six points in two matches while Navua remains on the eighth and last position with one point in five matches. You can see the current league standings by clicking here.

Vanuatu: Allista Kalip leads Tafea to beat Yatel in the Independence Cup

Tafea faced Yatel at Korman Stadium in the seceond matchweek of 2020 PVFA Independence Cup – a festive tournament to celebrate Vanuatu Independence Day on July 30.

After beating Tupuji Imere by 2-1 in the previous week, Tafea came very strong for this clash as many players received new boots from sponsors. Bob Jeffery was the biggest absence in Tafea’s side as he could not play due to work commitments. Allista Kalip opened the scoreboard in the first half and helped his team to take the lead to the locker room in the half time.

Yatel managed to tie the match in the second half but it was not enough as Kalip found the net once again to give the 2-1 win to his side. Tafea’s next match will be against Mauwia while Yatel must face Tupuji Imere on next week. You can check the current standings by clicking here.

Opportunité Européenne pour l’international Tahitien Teaonui Tehau

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L’internationale Tahitienne et attaquante de l’AS Venus Teaonui Tehau est sur le point de réaliser quelque chose de rare pour les footballeurs océaniens: une opportunité de jouer professionnellement en Europe. Le joueur est le meilleur buteur de l’équipe nationale Tahitienne, ainsi que le capitaine de l’équipe nationale et de son équipe, l’AS Venus.

Tehau a aidé l’AS Venus à se qualifier pour les quarts de finale de la Ligue des Champions de l’OFC cette saison après des victoires sur les Fidjiens de Ba, les Samoans de Lupe le Soaga et une défaite contre les Néo-Zélandais d’Auckland City. Il est actuellement dans un camp d’entraînement avec l’équipe nationale Tahitienne qui se prépare pour les qualifications pour la Coupe du Monde au Qatar en 2022.

Le joueur a été appelé pour une période d’essai aux Pays-Bas, précisément au club local de troisième division Kozakken Boys. L’ancien joueur du Real Madrid Royston Drenthe est actuellement dans l’équipe des Kozakken Boys et pourrait devenir le coéquipier de Tehau.

Cependant, Tehau doit se dépêcher de préparer ses fonds afin de ne pas manquer cette chance unique. La pré-saison dans les championnats néerlandais a commencé le 7 juillet, mais le club attend encore la confirmation de Tehau.

Son talent a été remarqué par le Néerlandais Paul Driessen lors des Jeux du Pacifique de 2019 à Samoa. Driessen, un intermédiaire enregistré auprès de la Fédération néerlandaise de football (KNVB), est actif en Océanie depuis 2010 avec la Fondation néerlandaise de soutien à l’Océanie. Il a visité le tournoi dans un double rôle d’intermédiaire. “Notre objectif a toujours été de construire un pont solide entre l’Océanie et l’Europe pour le football. La fondation recrute des entraîneurs pour les fédérations nationales de football en Océanie et organise des camps d’entraînement aux Pays-Bas pour les équipes nationales de football. D’autre part, je suis également actif en tant que recruteur de talents qui rêvent de jouer en Europe“, a déclaré Driessen.

“La plupart des clubs de football professionnels aux Pays-Bas ont refusé mon offre car ils le considéraient trop vieux. La valeur de transfert d’un joueur de 27 ans est tout simplement inférieure à celle d’un joueur de 21 ans. Mais je crois en lui et les Kozakken Boys aussi. Nous devons saisir cette opportunité à deux mains. C’est une opportunité unique”, a également dit Paul Driessen.

Teaonui est invité pour un essai de deux semaines et devrait arriver aux Pays-Bas le 20 juillet. Quatre matchs sont prévus pendant son procès. “L’invitation est là. La seule chose qu’il doit faire est de préparer ses fonds pour réserver son vol et son logement. Cela devrait se faire dans les 5 jours à venir pour éviter que le club qui invite ne passe à une autre invitation“, a déclaré Mr. Driessen.

L’Oceania Football Center suivra de près le développement de cette opportunité pour Teaonui Tehau et lui souhaite bonne chance aux Pays-Bas.

2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: will be there two representatives from OFC?

The next FIFA Women’s World Cup will be historical for Oceania as Australia and New Zealand are going to co-host the first FIFA Women’s World Cup with 32 teams in 2023. The official announcement was made by FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino through an official livestream shared by FIFA official social media on June 25 and the final result brought a lot of joy and pride for people from Australia, New Zealand and other nations from Oceania.

It is already known that Australia is part of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) since 2006. However having New Zealand as hosts brings lots of hopes to smaller countries affiliated to Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) as these countries will have bigger chances to play a FIFA Women’s World Cup at senior level for the first time ever once New Zealand is already qualified for the tournament.

New Zealand will co-host 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with Australia – *OFC Media*

The next FIFA Women’s World Cup will face some changes as the number of teams will increase from 24 to 32. However FIFA did not release anything about the number of spots for each confederation so it is not known if there will be a second direct spot for OFC at the moment.

Despite this, history is favorable for Oceania in these situations: in 2016 Papua New Guinea hosted FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and there were two teams from OFC region in the tournament as New Zealand qualified as OFC U-20 Women’s Championship winners. The same thing happened in the previous year when Fiji qualified to play 2015 FIFA U-20 Men’s World Cup in New Zealand. Since then, OFC has two spots in U-17 and U-20 Men’s World Cups and it is helping to develop football in smaller nations like Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu.

Papua New Guinea hosted 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup – *FIFA*

It is clear that women’s football in smaller nations from Oceania are many steps away from New Zealand so it would not be a surprise if FIFA does not give a direct spot to OFC. The next OFC Women’s Nations Cup is scheduled to take place in 2022 and the best team other than New Zealand must advance to an inter-confederation play-offs to fight for a spot in the next FIFA Women’s World Cup, but there is no official confirmation about it as it was mentioned above.

Many things will happen and change until 2022 but Papua New Guinea (PNG) seems to be the favourite team to win the next OFC Women’s Nations Cup as PNG Women’s National Team is the second best nation in Oceania when it comes to women’s football. Oceania Football Center will keep up with this situation in order to bring the most accurate updates regarding it.

Mobil Super Ligue restart this weekend in New Caledonia

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.

Reginald Davani: the best option for PNG Kapuls head coach position

It is nothing new for the Papua New Guinea and Oceania football fans that Papua New Guinea Footbal Association (PNGFA) is seeking for a new head coach for its men’s national team. This year the governing body spread the news they were in search of a strong profile to guide the national team back to glory. Former head coach Flemming Serritslev might be certainly in the spot for PNGFA – that recently had John Kapi Natto reelected as president – but he had already agreed terms with Fiji FA to become the Bula Boys‘ new head coach.

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.

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.