Oceania Football Center

Solomon Warriors will have to be at its best to beat AS Magenta

The final match of the OFC Champions League – Group C will have the Solomon Islands champions Solomon Warriors facing the New Caledonian powerhouse AS Magenta at Stade Numa Daly to decide which of the both sides will top the group and secure a much needed home quaterfinal-match in the knock-out stage of the regional tournament.

Both sides are already qualified for the second stage of the tournament: Solomon Warriors surpassed the Tahitian side of AS Tiare Tahiti by 1-0, while the New Caledonian side won the same side Tahitian team by 3-2. With the withdrawal of Tupapa Maraerenga from the group stage, Tiare Tahiti did not have any chance to reach any of the both sides in the standings and left the tournament in the group stage – this was their first participation in history at OFC Champions League.

The difference between the teams was of only one goal in each match; now Solomon Warriors and AS Magenta will battle for the first spot in the final group match. A draw will mean AS Magenta will top the group as they have scored more goals than Solomon Warriors in the process: if the Solomon Islanders want to top their group, they will not to impose a defeat to the home side in front of their crowd.

Image may contain: 6 people, people playing sports and outdoor — Solomon Warriors will need to be at its best – *OFC Media*

The captain Haddis Aengari will need to be a rock defensively to stop the important players of AS Magenta attack led by Kevin Nemia, that scored a brace in the previous match of the New Caledonian side.

The likes of Jerry Donga and John Alick will need to step up to in the midfield in a battle that will be interesting to see against Wilsen Poameno and Didier Simane. They will be responsible to protect his team defense and link upfront the always dangerous Gibson Daudau and Dennis Ifunaoa.

Ifunaoa presents himself as the top-striker of Solomon Warriors for this encounter. The former Hekari United and Labasa player scored the winner against Tiare Tahiti that qualified his side for the knock-out stage. Now the attacker will have a harder challenge to break the hearts of the defensive system of Magenta led by Jean-Brice Wadriako.

The outcome of the clash will be very important for the aspirations of both sides in the tournament: AS Magenta wants to confirm their favouritism against the Solomon Islanders, as Solomon Warriors is expected to come hungry to make history in Stade Numa Daly.

Alden Suri follows his young countrymen’s steps in New Zealand

Alden Suri is living a dream. The 15-year-old forward took part of Solomon Islands National Team in the U17 FIFA World Cup last year and now he is in New Zealand studying at Scots College, a college that is linked to Wellington Phoenix Academy.

SEE MORE:
Batram to Alden: the Suri football family

Suri is following the steps of two other players that took part of the U17 squad that travelled to Brazil: Raphael Lea’i and Leon Kofana. Both players represented Scots College last year but now they are in Australia on trials with Melbourne Victory.

The young forward is already training in New Zealand and he scored one goal in a friendly played recently. Alden is son of Batram Suri, one of the most important players of all time in Solomon Islands.

Ba’s Micah Tommy called up for Vanuatu national team

The 21-year-old forward playing currently for the Fijian outfit Ba Micah Tommy was included in the Vanautu provisional squad for the OFC Nations Cup 2020. The player is still to represent his country at senior level and he will have a big chance to impress the Vanuatu national team staff during the preparations for the tournament.

Image may contain: 1 person, beard and outdoor — Micah Tommy during Ba training – *OFC Media*

Tommy is currently in Tahiti defending the Men in Black – and despite the bad performances of the team from Fiji that lost their two matches so far in the process, Tommy has caught the attention of Vanautu technical staff and was included in the 54-men provisional squad. You can check the full squad list by clicking here.

Former Auckland City Ryan De Vries sign European deal

The New Zealand international and former Auckland City striker Ryan de Vries has a new club. De Vries recently was in trials with A-League club Western United, but he did not signed with the Australian outfit as he decided to get an opportunity in European soil.

The player that represented New Zealand internationally once, moved to Ireland top-tier side Sligo Rovers.

Image may contain: 1 person, closeup — De Vries wearing his new team jersey

The player recently stated in his official social media page that he is signing with the Irish side. De Vries last team was FC Gifu in Japanese sencond tier.

Sligo Rovers is currently ranked 10th in Irish League of Ireland Premier Division, the last placed side, and De Vries is there to help the team to perform better in the season – they are still to draw or win any of their matches played.

Ni-Vanuatu Mitch Cooper scores as Hume City win in Australia

The Ni-Vanuatu international Mitch Cooper helped once again his side to win at NPL Victoria. The midfielder scored the first goal of his side 4-2 win away win over Melbourne Knights at Knights Stadium.

Hume City is having a fantastic start of season with four victories in four matches played, being the 1st placed side in the proceess so far. Cooper started all matches of the season, scoring two goals for Hume City in the league.

Image may contain: 1 person, playing a sport and outdoor — Cooper scored the firstr goal of Hume City in the clash – *Hume City Media*

Cooper goal was followed by James Brown and Steven Hewitt in the first half. Hume added another throuh an own goal at the early stages of the second half. The New Zealander Hamish Watson scored the first goal of Melbourne Knights and Caleb Mikulic scored the final goal of the encounter – the fourth victory in a row for Hume by 4-2.

Mitch Cooper was called up by Etienne Mermer for the provisional squad of Vanuatu that will prepare for participating at OFC Nations Cup this June in New Zealand.

Lae City boss set to make huge changes in his team

Ian Chow, owner of Lae City FC, is really not satisfied with this team performances in OFC Champions League this year. After not proceeding to the knock-out stage for the first time since Lae City took part for its first time in the regional tournament, the team boss announced he is set to make huge changes in his franchise.

Hours before their important match against Hekari United counting for PNG National Soccer League 2019/20, Ian Chow stated in his social media: “They were too complacent [Lae City at OFC Champions League] – did not train enough, drinking beer, smoking. Totally unprofessional and deserved to be knocked out“. Chow also added that “they can let the game on Hekari go, or they can prove me wrong. Either way, there will be huge changes“. The transfer window is set to open next week in Papua New Guinea, the perfect chance for the changes Chow expects to do in his team.

Lae City already responded in style in their first match after the regional tournament, in a 8-1 win over FC Kutubu at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in a game in which they did not count on their captain Raymond Gunemba. Now they are going to have a much more harder challenge against the top-placed Hekari United at the same Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium, Lae.

Brian Kaltak was key for Auckland City win over AS Vénus

The Ni-Vanuatu international Brian Kaltak shown all his capabilities to help his side, the New Zealand powerhose Auckland City, to surpass the home team AS Vénus at Stade de Mahina by the minimum advantage at OFC Champions League – Group D second matchday.

The 26-year-old defender played alongside the experienced Ángel Berlanga and Mario Bilen at the back-three composition selected by the coach José Figueira and helped the goalkeeper Conor Tracey and the defensive system to end up the game with a clean sheet. Kaltak did not made any passing errors in the whole game and was efficient to stop the top-goalscorer of Ligue 1 Vini season in 2019 Teaonui Tehau.

The half time advantage of 1-0 was enough for Auckland City to secure their second win in the process. The goal scored by Myer Bevan proved to be the winning goal of the contest – the strong defensive performance of Auckland prevented AS Vénus to be a real threat for Conor Tracey as the Navy Blues marched on with another important three points in the pool to proceed to the knock-out stage.

Kaltak proved to be key for to hold the advatange and the coach José Figueira is certainly satisfied with the performance of his number 6. This is the seventh time Kaltak plays the OFC Champions League – the first for Auckland City. The defender recently was called up by Etienne Mermer for the Vanuatu national team camp that will start trainings for the OFC Nations Cup this June. The player might travel to Vanuatu when the season in New Zealand ends in order to represent his country at the most important football tournament of Oceania.

Lae and Hekari set for classic clash in Papua New Guinea NSL

The top two sides in the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League will go head-to-head in Lae this weekend in one of the most anticipated matches of the season so far.

Lae City will be without talismanic striker Raymond Gunemba after it was confirmed he received a five-match ban for pushing a referee after the game against Vitiaz United a few weeks ago, but otherwise the two squads will be at full strength for the game, which is the final match in the first round of fixtures in the competition.

Hekari played Lae in last year’s Grand Final, with Lae winning on penalties. Photo: PNGFA

Following Hekari’s 0-0 draw with third-placed Vitiaz United last weekend, the eight-time champions are only one point ahead of the current title-holders, meaning a Lae victory would propel the side to the top of the table. However, if Hekari are victorious, this would give them a four-point cushion going into the second half of the season.

Whatever the result, Vitiaz United have a chance to capitalise. Lae host Hekari in Lae at 3pm local time, while Vitiaz United also travel to Lae to take on the struggling Morobe Wawens at 1pm. A victory for Vitiaz could see them end up in second place at the turn of the season, which is a remarkable achievement for a club just making their debut in the semi-professional domestic competition. In the early kick-off in Lae, Morobe United host Tusbab Stallions, meaning all four of the top four sides will be strutting their stuff at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium on Saturday.

In Port Moresby, fifth-placed FC Bougainville will be hoping to push the pressure on Tusbab Stallions in fourth by winning their match against Star Mountain at 1pm. At 3pm, Gulf Komara will host FC Kutubu in what should be a competitive game.

Raymond Gunemba suspended for five matches following referee push

After Lae City’s Raymond Gunemba wasn’t in the starting eleven for the side’s 8-1 victory over FC Kutubu last weekend, Oceania Football Center has learned that Gunemba was suspended for the match, and for a further four National Soccer League matches, after he pushed the referee at the end of Lae’s 2-1 defeat to Vitiaz United earlier in the season.

Lae City FC have appealed the suspension.

According to FIFA’s disciplinary code, Gunemba may have actually gotten off lightly. FIFA’s regulations state:

Players and officials shall be suspended for misconduct as specified below and may be fined accordingly:
[…]
i) at least four matches or an appropriate period of time for unsporting behaviour towards a match official;
j) at least ten matches or an appropriate period of time for intimidating or threatening a match official;
k) at least 15 matches or an appropriate period of time for assaulting a match official, e.g. elbowing, punching, kicking, biting, spitting, hitting,
FIFA Disciplinary Code

Now, nowhere in here does it specify ‘pushing’; and yes, most would agree that Gunemba didn’t go as far ‘assaulting’ the referee, using the terms mentioned above. But it could certainly have counted as intimidation and, at the very least, unsporting behaviour. So, somewhere between four and ten matches is a reasonable response from the PNGFA on this occasion, and we’re not sure how successful the club’s appeal will be.

It is likely that Gunemba will therefore be unavailable for Lae’s crunch match against Hekari United this weekend, and if he is made to serve the full five-match suspension, he will also miss the matches against Tusbab Stallions, Gulf Komara, and the return fixture against Hekari United on March 28th, which would be the final game of his suspension.

Lae’s 8-1 victory last week demonstrates that they may well have the firepower up front to cope with Gunemba’s absence with ease, but Hekari’s defence is a mean one, and without their talismanic striker, who has an excellent scoring record against Hekari, Lae will have to think of something different if they’re to keep their title challenge on track.

Solomon Islands’ Charles Mani successful in trials in New Zealand club

The 18-year-old forward Charles Mani was undergoing trials in NRFL2 Division side in New Zealand Hibiscus Coast AFC – the Solomon Islands youth international was succesful in the trainings and made the final-cut for the team that will represent the side in New Zealand winter league – precisely in second-tier of the NRFL Division system. The competition is set to start this month.

Mani talked to Oceania Football Center and stated he sustained a minor injury that made him to be away from the pitches for around one week, but he is already recovered and set to continue his trainings with his new club: “I am recovered now, I will continuie training and looking forward for the season to start. I am also ready to play some of the remaining friendly games before we focus for the league“, stated the talented player.

Mani captainted Solomon Islands U16 team in 2018 to qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup. The forward and his teammates took part in the first ever FIFA football tournament played by Solomon Islands in 2019 when Solomon Islands U17 national team played Italy, Paraguay and Mexico at the U17 World Cup held in Brazil.

The 18-year-old Solomon Islands also spent his last year in New Zealand playing college football in a scholarship program. The player is set to continue his study commitments in New Zealand, while playing for Hibiscus Coast and representing his school in college tournaments around the country. Mani also played the 2nd round of Telekom S-League in Solomon Islands for Kossa in 2019 in his school break before departing back to New Zealand in the start of the new year.