Phoenix strikes Victory and Coronavirus away as they get their fourth straight win

Wellington Phoenix imposed a harsh defeat for Melbourne Victory in a very concerned scenario regarding COVID-19 outbreak – the league future is uncertain after this weekend matches.

A very emotional moment started the day at Sky Stadium as Phoenix and Victory players honoured the victims with the mass-shooting of Christchurch that happened exactly one year ago.

After the starting of the game, it did not take long for the Wellington side to take the lead: a fantastic play by Tim Payne in the right side of the pitch, allowed him a great cross to the penalty box; Reno Piscopo chips it in to the middle of the area and the Mexican Ulises Dávila scores with a strong finish – giving and end his drought of goals, scoring his 11th of the season.

The first goal of Phoenix in the clash

Victory did not have much time to settle their game down; surprisingly the Swedish international Ola Toivonen started from the bench, being the attacking duo of the visiting made up by Andrew Nabbout and Marco Rojas.

The duo-tried to create some trouble to Phoenix defense, forcing Stefan Marinovic to some hard stops during the game. But the excellent moment of the home side continued as Gary Hooper headed to the nets after a fantastic assist of Liberato Cacace still in the first half, giving Phoenix a very comfortable lead.

The team coached by Ufuk Talay allowed Victory have more the possesion of the ball, but the visitors could not create major threats to Marinovic goal – all of their possibilities being well-controled by the defensive duo Luke DeVere and Steven Taylor alongside their defensive system.

The 2-0 advatange was the result for Phoenix at the break; but it did not take long after the beginning of the second half for the New Zealand side to score another. The combination Hooper-Ball worked very well again as the marksman provided a great long ball to his compatriot, Ball passed beat two Victory defenders to score the third of his team with a clinical finish.

Ball (center) celebrates with his teammates – Phoenix Media

The New Zealanders were three ahead and also had chances to increase their lead; but it was Victory who scored after a shot of Andrew Nabbout deflected by Ola Toivonen after coming from the bench – after some minutes of confusion, VAR checked referee call to allow the goal and detected Toivonen was in an off-side position, rulling out Victory’s goal to keep the clean sheet of Phoenix.

The Nix managed very well the match, with a top-class performance not allowing many threats coming from Marco Rojas and his teammates. The attacking trio composed by Ball, Dávila and Hooper worked very, very well alongside the strong midifielders Cameron Devlin and Matti Steinmann. Tim Payne has a very good match – specially in attack – while the always good Liberato Cacace continued his superb form. Defensively, Phoenix got another clean sheet in the run with a solid performance of DeVere and Steven Taylor in the heart of defense.

The future of A-League will be decided in the following days regarding the concerns around Coronavirus outbreak. The situation in numbers is still not much serious in Australia and New Zealand, but the governments of both nations are taking caution actions to prevent the fast-spreading virus to harm more its countries.

Phoenix, at the moment, stands at 3rd spot in the contention just one point behind Melbourne Victory in the process. The New Zealand side expects the league can continue as they have real chances to end-up the regular season in the top-two of A-League, sealing so a very important advantage for the playoffs – being a home win away from their first ever appearance at a grand final.

Phoenix faces Victory of Marco Rojas and COVID-19 threats at Sky Stadium

Wellington Phoenix is back to play in Wellington as they take on Melbourne Victory of the New Zealand national team star Marco Rojas at Sky Stadium. The opposition does not come in a good moment despite the last good performances of their new star-signing Rojas, while Phoenix battles for spots at the top of A-League ladder.

But Rojas and Victory are not the only sides to impose a threat for the home team: as already known worldwide, the Coronavirus outbreak is a major concern at the moment and before the match a lot of discussion went around the possibility to have a closed-door match or even to postpone the clash. The outcome of the discussions kept the game as it stands with home crowd, but it is not likely to stand as it is for the upcoming fixtures of A-League – a concern that can change much on the final rounds of the Australian top-tier.

To add more importance to this encounter, the Christchurch mass-shooting tragedy completes one-year this Sunday 15th March, Phoenix already announced they are planning to honour the victins of Christchurch in this clash against the Melbourne-based side.

Inside the pitch, Nix will need to be careful with the likes of Rojas and Ola Toivonen if they want to continue in their fantastic streak. The New Zealand team is currently three points away Melbourne City in the 2nd spot – to finish in the top-two will mean a huge advatange for Phoenix in the hunt of a first-ever Hyundai A-League title.

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Liberato Cacace is being instrumental for Phoenix – FTBL

Wellington Phoenix will expect the 19-year-old Libby Cacace continues in his absolute fantastic form, scoring in the previous two matches of his side. The Mexican sensation Ulises Dávila does not score for four matches in a row and certainly the coach Ufuk Talay and his team supporters expect more on him in this clash.

The strong English-duo upfront made up by David Ball and the marksman Gary Hooper continues to work very fine in the season so far – they can be named as the major threat for the Victory side in this evening, if surely we do not mention COVID-19 concerns.

The match will be live telecasted by Sky Sport and also live streamed at MyFootball YouTube channel.

Labasa dominates Vodafone/Fiji FA Awards Night

The Vodafone/Fiji FA Awards Night is one of the most important events related to football in Fiji. Every year the most important players, referees, managers and teams contest in this very important award. This year’s Awards Night awarded the top ones from the previous year.

Labasa was the most prominent team in the Awards Night. Despite winning the Team of the Year award, the Babasiga Lions won some other important awards with Atonio Tuivuna (Player of the Year), Siotame Kubu (Goal of the Year) and Ronil Lal (Head Coach of the Year) as they won two tournaments in the last year: the Battle of the Giants and the Inter-District Championship. Nadi’s player Jeshal Kumar won the Popular Footballer of the Year while rising star Shivam Naidu (Lautoka) won the Junior Footballer of the Year.

Labasa dominated the Awards Night. Source: Fiji FA Media

Talking about the women, Cema Nasau (Ba) won the Female Footballer of the Year while Adi Litia Bakaniceva who also was a contester for the Popular Footballer of the Year won the Junior Female Footballer of the Year. You can check the winners of all awards by clicking here.

Oceania Football Center team congratulates everyone involved in the Awards Night specially the ones who were awarded on this Saturday.

Benjamin Mana: a new talent for Solomon Islands futsal

The 2020 SIPA Futsal Champions League is over as Marist has beaten KF Gold in the final by 7-4. However there is a very important story coming from the third place match that must be pointed.

Current OFC Futsal Champions League winners Kooline FC faced Mataks in the third place match and the final score was 8-4 in favour of Kooline as Benjamin Mana scored four goals in this contest. Mana finished the tournament with eleven goals scored which credited him the Golden Boot Award.

Mana won SIPA Futsal League’s Golden Boot. Source: SIPA Media

Mana is a very young player that is showing off his talent one more time. The 17-year-old player was also the 2019 OFC Futsal Champions League top scorer by finding the net for eight times to help Kooline to win the first ever edition of the tournament. That is pretty impressive once we are talking about a very young player.

Mana was also OFC Futsal Champions League’s top scorer. Source: OFC Media

Solomon Islands National Futsal Team is qualified for 2020 FIFA Futsal World Cup that will be held in Lithuania from September to October and Kurukuru’s Brazilian head coach Vinicius Leite should take Benjamin Mana into consideration.

Marist beats KF Gold to win SIPA Futsal League

Marist is the newest champion of SIPA Futsal League in Solomon Islands by beating KF Gold in a thrilling clash at Multi-Purpose Hall in Honiara.

It was a very tough contest as both teams finished the regular time with four goals scored each. The extra time was decisive as Marist found the net for three times to seal the 7-4 win.

Marist players with the SIPA Futsal League trophy

The champions also received twenty thousand of Solomon Islands Dollars as part of the award.

Krishna helps ATK to clinch Indian Super League title

ATK defeated Chennaiyin FC 3-1 in the 2019-20 Indian Super League final to lift their third league title in the history. The match was played behind closed doors at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Fijian forward Roy Krishna helped to break the zero by providing an amazing cross to assist Javi Hernández who opened the scoreboard for ATK.

Krishna was having a good performance but he was replaced by Mandi Sosa in the 40th minute after getting injured.

Krishna left the pitch crying after getting injured. Source: ISL Media

ATK had a difficult contest in the second half as Chennaiyin FC was dominating the match. The team from Kolkata was winning by 2-1 and having some trouble but Edu García scored in the stoppage time to seal the 3-1 win and the National title. You can check the highlights by clicking here.

Roy Krishna (right) with 2019-20 Indian Super League trophy

Krishna’s his first season in India is over. He scored 15 goals and delievered six assists in 21 matches. The 32-year-old forward finished the Golden Boot race in the second position.

ATK and Roy Krishna grand final will be played behind closed doors

The COVID-19 outbreak concerns strike again against football – this time the most important football match of the year to be played in Indian soil will not have any supporters at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Margao, Goa state.

The clash between ATK of the Fijian national team captain Roy Krishna and Chennayin will miss one of the most important touches of football; with no people in the stands, football seems completely different. Despite the issues, Indian government decided to avoid situations that will attract big crowds concerned about the fast-spreanding new virus that is stunning the world.

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The grand final of ISL will be played behind closed doors – ISL Media

ATK will be fighting for their 3rd title in the league, while Krishna is the current top scorer of the season – hoping to win the trophy and also end the league as the golden boot winner.

The final will kick-off at 7pm Indian time – 2am Fijian time.

Ba vs. Nadi match for Vodafone Premier League postponed

The match between Ba and Nadi, that would mark the return of Ba to the national league in Fiji after OFC Champions League, was scheduled due bad weather conditions.

According to local sources, the match is postponed to 25th March. Before this, Ba will take on Lautoka – being this their first match after their terrible campaign at regional level in Tahiti.

“Ba will play Lautoka on Wednesday the 18th then on Saturday they play Suva and this game will be rescheduled next Wednesday in Nadi then they will play Navua“, said Fiji FA Competitons Manager Amitesh Pal to local sources. It was also added by local media that “adverse weather conditions has left the grounds unfavorable to play in“.

Core Lae City players to walk out of club with sacked manager Gunemba

The majority of this season’s regular starting eleven for Lae City FC will walk out of the club with sacked coach Peter Gunemba, according to sources close to the Gunemba family and owner Ian Chow.

It was also revealed that Gunemba will not take charge of the side for tomorrow’s home game against Tusbab Stallions.

Midfielder Emmanuel Simon is set to leave Lae City alongside several other key players. Photo: Phototek

The players set to leave the club are Gunemba’s sons Troy and Raymond Gunemba, as well as attackers Nigel Dabinyaba and Obert Bika, midfielders Jacob Sabua and Emmanuel Simon, defenders Goropaul Albert, Valentine Nelson, and Mosie Milubwa, and goalkeepers Matheson Nasa and Ronald Warisan.

Gunemba had initially been set to manage the side for a final time on Saturday against Tusbab Stallions, but has since asked Chow not to be present at the match, so it is unclear if any of the players above will be available for selection. It is expected that new coach Bob Morris will take over with a new-look squad.

As always, we’ll try to get you all the latest news as it happens from Papua New Guinea.

PNG National Soccer League set to kick off Round 2

Later today, the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League will kick-off the second half of its season with five fixtures in Lae and Port Moresby, following a dramatic and controversial transfer window which saw five-time championship-winning coach Peter Gunemba sacked from Lae City FC, and plenty of player movement across the country.

How many new players we will see playing their new clubs this week remains to be seen, but all eyes will be on the 3pm game in Lae as new coach Bob Morris takes his first game in charge of the club against Tusbab Stallions. With official confirmation that the core of the Lae City side will leave with Gunemba, we may never see the likes of Raymond Gunemba, Nigel Dabinyaba and Ronald Warisan in a Lae City shirt again, and it could be a completely new-look Lae City side. With former Stallions captain Nigel Malagian having moved to Lae City late in the transfer window, Stallions will be hoping to put a downer on Gunemba’s swansong. Stallions did manage to tempt the league’s top scorer Stahl Gubag to stay at the club, but how will his head be after a move to one of the biggest clubs in the country fell through at the last minute? This match will certainly bring plenty of talking points.

In the 1pm kick-off in Lae, Morobe Wawens take on FC Kutubu. With both clubs struggling in the league, there is no news as to who has taken over the coaching job at Wawens after Bob Morris left to take over from Peter Gunemba, and with Kutubu strengthening their side with three players from Hekari United, this might be a match that the Highlands-based side could see themselves winning.

In a triple-header in Port Moresby, the 1pm kick-off will see FC Bougainville take on Gulf Komara. We’ve only heard that these teams have lost players during the transfer window, with Bougainville having lost Jonathan Allen and ‘keeper Andrew Baniau to Vitiaz, and Komara having surrendered center-back Carlos Onne to Hekari early on in the week, and Donovan Murray to Vitiaz late on. Both sides will therefore be itching to prove that they can still perform without these key players. Allen in particular is a big loss to Bougainville, with the 19-year-old having scored six goals for the club so far this season.

Gulf Komara players celebrate scoring in their 2-0 victory over FC Kutubu last weekend. Photo: PNGFA

At 3pm, a strengthened Vitiaz United still take on Morobe United, with no news from the latter of any incomings or outgoings during the transfer window. Vitiaz have lost Russell Nirik due to personal issues, but have brought in Murray, Allen, and Baniau, as well as Peter Dabinyaba Jr and Mathew David from Lae City. They’re clearly looking to secure that second OFC Champions League spot in the wake of Lae’s troubles. With many of Vitiaz’ current players having played for Morobe United last season, it will be an interesting clash with both sides will be desperate to win.

In the late 5pm kick-off, Star Mountain will take on Hekari United. Star Mountain have appointed Percy Mataio as their new head coach, and have also strengthened their side, but Hekari will remain favourites for this clash, after confirming the signings of Gregory Togubai, Carlos Onne and Wira Wama early on in the week.

It’s sure to be a weekend to remember!