Recently, the Solomon Islands Football Federation stated the governing body president William Lai is set to organize an emergency meeting to discuss about the concern around the Coronavirus outbreak. Despite not having any confirmed case in Solomon Islands, Lai is worried about the possibilities the outbreak to spread to his country: “We will try to see if the upcoming Youth Solomon Cup in April and Solomon Cup in June will go ahead or not. SIFF is responsible, transparent and cares about the game but we take the welfare and health of our players, officials at paramount importance. Whatever decision we make after the consultation with relevant health authorities“, explained SIFF’s president to the governing body media.
William Lai, SIFF’s president – Island Sun News
Football was hit strongly by COVID-19 outbreak: many football matches were played at closed doors for supporters and in many other cases competitions were postponed. The fast-spreading virus forces the authorities to important decisions, as to not allow events with big crowds – as normally happens at football matches.
Three players coming from the Papua New Guinean powerhouse Hekari United will boost the squad of the Goroka-based club FC Kutubu in the second round of the PNG National Soccer League.
Aisome Kila, Magalu Guena and Jonah Phillip have been released by Hekari United management and already sealed their path to Kutubu. The players already traveled to Goroka – being ready for their upcoming clash in the weekend.
The three players who are joining FC Kutubu
The Gorokans are not having a good season so far, winning just two of their nine matches in the process, sitting only 9th in the table of PNG National Soccer League.
The team coached by Mathew Witu will expect the three new signings coming from one of the most traditional teams in the country can help them to bounce back in the standings. The three players were not receiving proper game time in Hekari and decided to change the path of their careers by joining Kutubu.
Royals Academy from Solomon Islands are very close to win a regional title in England. The Oceanian squad has reached the Sussex School Cup’s final after beating Thomas Bennett Community College by 3-2 at the extra time.
The academy managed by former footballer Joel Konofilia holds a partnership with Stars Football, a football academy from England. The young Solomon Islanders are having a great opportunity to get some exposure in Europe by training and playing there.
Royals are training in England since last year.
Thomas Bennett is one of the lots of schools linked to Chelsea as a Foundation Team. Royals had a difficult challenge against them as the English school opened the scoreboard in the 89th minute but the Solomon Islanders managed to tie the match in the upcoming minute with John Mana.
Things got worse for Royals/Stars because goalkeeper Michael was sent off. However the young players showed bravery to keep pounding and their effort was worthy as they have booked a spot in the final showdown.
Royals players celebrating after winning the match in the extra time. Source: Stars Football Media
Oceania Football Center team congratulates Royals and Stars for this accomplishment.
It is confirmed that New Zealand National Football Team will not be travelling to Asia to play two friendlies that were scheduled to take place later this month due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
All Whites in 2019
All Whites would face Oman on March 26th and Bahrain on March 30th.
This morning, sensational news broke that five-time domestic title-winning coach of Lae City, Peter Gunemba, was sacked by franchise owner and sponsor Ian Chow. Immediately, several questions sprang to mind: Why did this happen? Which players will stay and which will go? And how will this affect the landscape of football in Papua New Guinea going forward?
While we can’t predict the future, we do have some answers.
Why was Peter Gunemba sacked?
After Lae City’s 3-3 draw with Henderson Eels in their opening match of this year’s OFC Champions League, Oceania Football Center was contacted by a source close to Chow, suggesting that the club owner had given coach Gunemba an ultimatum: qualify for the quarter-finals, or face the sack. While this seems to have worked in the first instance, with Lae winning their next game 7-0 against Fijian side Lautoka, the club ended up crashing out of the competition after losing 3-0 to Malampa Revivors. This was the beginning of the end for Gunemba.
Peter Gunemba. Photo: RNZ
Shortly before the news broke this morning of Gunemba’s departure, Chow himself contacted OFCe, and revealed his reasons for the decision he was about to make. He said that the team was too “complacent”, and that the arrival of the two Ecuadorians, Gustine Icaza Vergara and Abdias Aguirre, had been made to “shake up” the side. However, Chow continues, shortly after their arrival, it was reported to him that the Gunemba ‘family’ – a term he uses for the family and close friends of coach Gunemba – were the “bad apples” of the side, indulging in drinking and the smoking of cigarettes and marijuana as recently as their trip to Vanuatu for the Champions League.
“That is why the team has not performed. No discipline, no commitment, no focus and bad leadership. In my three years as owner of the team, I just left coach Gunemba to do what I expect any professional would do. But he has failed miserably and dramatically; he cannot discipline his family and they are the worst offenders in the team,” Chow said, giving reasons for his decision. “It is not too late to save the team from self-destruction from within.”
Will Lae City retain the services of their current players?
In most footballing countries, players don’t leave the club with the manager when the manager is sacked. However, the close family ties that exist within the structure of the club could lead to a mass exodus. This is something that Chow is not particularly concerned about.
“I don’t have a problem if the top players walk out with the coach,” he said. “Some players think they own the spot on the team, and you will know who they are because they will walk out with the coach. Some players will be released and some new recruits have signed on.”
Following the sacking, Gunemba’s son, Raymond Gunemba, claimed on social media that every player would leave the club in solidarity with their coach. Whether that will actually happen remains to be seen, but given Raymond’s, and younger brother Troy’s, closeness with their father, one would imagine that the likelihood of the pair leaving the franchise is high.
Who is the man taking over?
Gunemba’s replacement will be Bob Morris, the current manager of Morobe Wawens and the most recent caretaker manager of the Papua New Guinea national team, who guided the side to 4th place at the 2019 Pacific Games. Prior to that, Morris coached Laiwaden FC in last year’s National Soccer League, steering the side to a modest 5th place in the Northern Conference, as well as being at the helm of the side while they were competing in the breakaway competition under the Football Federation Papua New Guinea from 2017 to 2018. He also coached Madang FC to Champions League qualification in the 2015/16 domestic season, and was at the helm of Besta PNG United and the PNG U17 side in the early half of the 2010s.
Bob Morris (far left) with Ian Chow (centre left) and PNGFA President John Kapi Natto (far right) in May 2019. Photo: Post Courier
Morris’ record isn’t phenomenal: he hasn’t won anything, but no other manager has during Gunemba’s reign at Lae, because Lae won everything during that time. But something he has done in recent years must have impressed Chow enough to see fit to bring him in as Gunemba’s replacement in charge of the club.
Which players have joined the club?
Amid the chaos, Chow also revealed which players are set to join the club in the dying moments of the week-long transfer window currently in place. While it doesn’t seem likely that we will have full confirmation until the players actually take the field, brothers Alwin and Felix Komolong should be available fairly soon, having both been free agents, while Nigel Malagian and Stahl Gubag may well be joining from Tusbab Stallions, although rumours that the former is going to join his brother at Hekari United are persistent, while for the latter, the move may have been vetoed by Gubag’s mother, who is reportedly refusing to allow the league’s top scorer to forgo his education in Madang! Elsewhere, goalkeeper Charlie Lepani, who played for Eastern Stars last season, will also join up, as well as another Ecuadorian player called Danyer Lara – more to come on that in due course.
How will this affect the title race?
Well, like we said, we’re not prophets and we can’t predict the future. Coach Gunemba supposedly has his swansong match this weekend against Tusbab Stallions, which, given the transfer saga between the two clubs for Malagian and Gubag, could be a feisty affair. It could well also be the final game in a Lae City shirt for Raymond and Troy Gunemba, among others.
The big question is whether the club will hang on to their top two finish in the league, which is what they will be required to do if they’re to secure qualification to next season’s OFC Champions League. With Hekari United undefeated and debutants Vitiaz United looking very slick and professional, even without the momentous uprooting of the side it was looking to be a tough task for the side to secure a top two finish. The newcomers will have to hit the ground running, and Chow and Morris must be hoping some of the old guard will stick around to bolster the squad depth.
Whatever happens, and however you feel about it, there’s no doubt that this year’s National Soccer League just got way more interesting and intriguing!
The Vodafone/Fiji FA Awards Night is going take place on this Saturday. Fifteen awards will be given in this event regarding the 2019 football season in the country.
Suva’s right back Filipe Baravilala had a good season in 2019 by helping his team to reach two finals in the last year: Fiji FACT (lost to Nadi) and IDC (lost to Labasa). Another contester is Labasa’s defensive midfielder Atonio Tuivuna that had a very impressive performance throughout the last season as he was a key player for Babasiga Lions that won the Battle of the Giants and the IDC.
Tuivuna won 2019 IDC’s Golden Ball award. Source: FIJI FA Media
The third and last contester is former Nadi’s Tito Vodowaqa. The 20-year-old forward showed his quality in the last year playing for Nadi and he has booked a spot in Fiji National Football Team for the Pacific Games. He was Fiji’s top scorer in the tournament with six goals. He is currently in Australia playing for Frankston Pines.
The PVFA First Division Opening Cup reached its end. Just like the Premier League Opening Cup, this tournament counts on eight teams that are contesting the PVFA First Division, the second tier of football in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Seveners United and Shepherds United were the finalists. After a 0-0 draw in the regular time, Shepherds were crowned as the champions as they have beaten their opponents by 3-2 in the shootout.
Shepherds United players celebrating after winning the Opening Cup. Source: Vanuatu Sports News
Shepherds were relegated from PVFA Premier League last season and now the team coached by Jack Morris is in the second tier fighting for a spot in the main football division from Port Vila.
The best footballer ever produced by Fiji is close to one of the biggest achievements of his career. The now 32-year-old Roy Krishna has many remarkable moments of his career: scoring a goal at Olympics Football Tournament, winning the OFC Champions League, scoring at FIFA Clubs World Cup and most recently winning the golden boot and best player award of Hyundai A-League in Australia. Now the Fijian is one game away to win the Indian Super League – Chennayin is the last barrier Krishna and his side ATK have to overcome for a major glory.
Krishna is having a sublime season
The Fijian, alognside Ogbeche of Kerala Blasters, is top goalscorer of the season with the Grand Final match remaining. The striker scored 15 goals in the season, also providing five assists during the league.
Krishna will hope to strike once again to guide his side to an endless happines moment. ATK is seeking for their third title of the most important football league of India and a Fijian with Indian roots is proving himself in the land of his forefathers, before striking in New Zealand and Australia, India is the new land conquered by the man coming from Labasa.
ATK will take on Chennayin at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa for the last act of Indian Super League 2019/20 season. The match will kick-off at 7pm local time – 2am Fijian time.
After leaving the South African side Maritzburg United, one of the most important players of Solomon Islands currently is on stand-by. Micah Lea’alafa is back to his home country after his first full-professional adventure in South Africa. The forward suffered with injuries during his period in Maritzburg and could turn into a major piece of his former team system.
But what happened in his previous experience is already past; certainly, the fans of football in Solomon Islands are asking each other what will be the next move of Micah Lea’alafa in his footballing career.
What’s next for Micah? – ACFC Media
The 28-year-old player is certainly the most important footballer of his country currently, impressing at Auckland City helping his former club in New Zealand to suceed nationally and also internationally, winning OFC Champions League and taking part at FIFA Clubs World Cup.
Lea’alafa already represented his country 13 times scoring five goals, but also achieved a lot of sucess in the Kurukuru. Lea’alafa played three FIFA Futsal World Cups – 2008, 2012 and 2016 – and is set to defend the colours of his country once again in Lithuania for his 4th FIFA Futsal World Cup in a row.
It is not still sure wheter Micah Lea’alafa will be taking part of the squad as he could not play the OFC Futsal Nations Cup last year in New Caledonia – when his country won the regional title one more time -, but for being an historical player of his country’s Futsal, it is very possible he will be travelling alongside Solomon Islands squad to Lithuania.
The FIFA Futsal World Cup 2020 is set to start this September, but we still have plenty of time until the magic comes for Lea’alafa and his teammates. The question is: what will Micah Lea’alafa be doing until September, 2020?
Rumours already linked the star player back to Auckland City, but still not something substantial to make the Solomon Islander head back to New Zealand. The future is still uncertain for Lea’alafa, but the fans are already missing his skills in the pitch; with a possible another appearance at FIFA Futsal World Cup the hopes get bigger to see the big quality of the Solomon Islands international in Futsal, but still expecting for more in Football.
We could have been here praising an organized team, well-managed that brought in the right pieces to compose a team good enough to proceed to the knock-out stage in a hard group having the likes of Auckland City and AS Vénus.
If we could not be celebrating a good campaign, we could at least praise the good fight of a team that could not qualify for the quarterfinals of OFC Champions League, but played a good game and the usual details of football prevented them to go ahead in the regional tournament.
Unfortunately for the most traditional football team of Fiji, the story to be told is completely different from the one they expected: Ba made their worst ever campaign at OFC Champions League. This was the 12th appearance of the Men in Black – in none of the past eleven they had so bad records.
The efforts to retain two foreigners from the past season (Darold Kakasi and Micah Tommy) and to bring important players from another districts, as Beniamino Mateinaqara, Benjamin Totori and Samuela Drudru proved not enough. The management of Ba also approached the Ni-Vanuatu international Jason Thomas to sign for their team, but the player decided to represent the rivals Lautoka at OFC Champions League. To fill the spot left by Thomas, Ba signed the strong central defender from Papua New Guinea Alwin Komolong.
Ba also made an ambitious move outside the pitch: the Fijian side selected the New Zealand football legend Ricki Herbert as the new head coach of Ba for the OFC Champions League – one of the most important moves of Fijian football history.
The team had enough time to prepare for the competition – they played just one game of Vodafone Premier League, receiving a green-light from Fiji FA to focus on their trainings for their biggest challenge of the season. They knew they would have an even-stronger Auckland City than in the previous years, a good side of AS Vénus playing at home and the Samoan representatives, coming from the preliminary stage, that were nowhere near a threat for the Fijian powerhouse.
The problems started to appear before their debut against the hardest team of the pool: Auckland City. Ricki Herbert had 16 players to choose from, he was forced to make several changes to the usual Ba starting lineup. The team started the match with 6 attacking players against a very strong side as Auckland City. Darold Kakasi, a natural attacker, was placed as right-back, while the tall striker Saula Waqa played mostly as a central midfielder.
Ba could have played much better if the Papua New Guinean import Alwin Komolong was there – but he could not debut. Ba seemed to have problems in players’ registration alongside OFC. Ba was not expect to beat Auckland City, but it is not always a good sign to suffer a 6-0 defeat. If Ba had more natural defenders in their squad – Herbert could not do magic with that team – the result could had been less worse.
The peak of the humiliation came against the Samoan side of Lupe o le Soaga. Ba had to win this match to keep their chances to proceed to the quarterfinals alive. Theoretically, the Fijians were heavy favourites – never a team from Samoa won a match at OFC Champions League – Group Stage. The story was different after 45 minutes: the Samoans were up by 4-0 – what happened to Ba?
In the final part of the game the Men in Black came with a total different mentality, scored three goals through Malakai Tiwa, Saula Waqa and Samuela Drudru – still not enough to bounce back: Ba is the first team to lose for a Samoan side ever at OFC Champions League – Group Stage. A team couting on the likes of Benjamin Totori, Samuela Drudru and Ilimotama Jese suffered four goals from Lupe o le Soaga in less than 45 minutes – could create any defensive trouble for the Samoans, just in the second half they realized the shame they were in and tried to make something, but still not enough.
Lupe o le Soaga had a great performance in the first half
The fans shown all their frustration in social media: blaming the team management, local players, foreign players, the coach – no one from Ba was saved from the heavy critics of the Men in Black supporters. It was not only a shame for Ba, but one of the worst moments of Fijian football ever. We can certainly say the Samoans improved, but it is not a possibility in a tournament as OFC Champions League to play like Ba did in that match.
The Fijian’s hopes to proceed were near to zero when they entered the pitch against the home side AS Vénus. Something seemed to change as Samuela Drudru scored at the 2nd minute of play for Ba and Totori after a penalty kick scored in the rebound eight minutes later to put the Fijians ahead by 2-0. They were fighting for pride. But it all demolished still in the first half: the comeback was complete before the break by the Tahitian side – the efforts of the Fijians did not worth much as the 3-2 was already written in the scoreboard. In the second half, despite creating some goalscoring chances, AS Vénus was the team to add another to the scoresheet and claim their spot in the next round by winning Ba by 4-2. This was the last act by Ba at OFC Champions League 2020.
A shameful campaign for Ba
The only time of Ba football history at OFC Champions League that the team lost all their matches in the regional tournament it was 15 years ago; the tournament did not even had the name as today and the same format. Ba lost in a home-away elimination playoff their two matches – something very different from the 2020 edition.
14 goals suffered and 5 scored; 0 points collected; Management and technical mistakes; Players not allowed to play due still unknown reasons; A lack of team spirit – a lot of individuality in the field of play. This was Ba at OFC Champions League 2020 – a total disaster, for them and for Fijian football.
Oceania Football Center 