Oceania Football Center

Why did Ba sign Alwin Komolong?

One of the top Papua New Guinean defenders, Alwin Komolong, was recently signed by Ba to represent the Fijian team at OFC Champions League. It was surprising for the Oceania football community as the defender was announced as a new player of Lae City back in his country weeks before his move to Fiji. Despite the news, Komolong was only signed for the PNG National Soccer League – he was not committed to Lae to represent them in the regional tournament – which made his move to Ba possible, although there are still many questions if the player will return to his country to continue the season with Lae City or will stay with the Fijian outfit in the Vodafone Premier League.

There are still many questions around the PNG international: Komolong is with the Ba squad in Tahiti, but Ba have already played two matches in the group stage, with Komolong not featuring in either of the two games. Komolong was not even listed as a bench option by coach Ricki Herbert.

So, if the idea was to reinforce the squad for OFC Champions League with a player of the importance of Alwin Komolong, this idea has already been wasted. Ba lost their first two matches in the process – agaist Auckland City and, incredibly, to Lupe o le Soaga from Samoa – and will need a miracle to qualify for the knock-out stage of the competition.

Ba did not release a statement about the player or the terrible results that the team has had so far in the tournament. Komolong already trained with his teammates under the guidance of Ricki Herbert and seems completely fit for the games. It would be a strategy by Ba to rest its star-player, but not using Komolong in both matches does not seem to be very clever, and it suggests there are problems outside the pitch that are not allowing the Papua New Guinean international to represent Ba in the competition.

The future of the player that is one of the best defenders in the region, with plenty of experience in countries as United States, New Zealand and Germany, is still unclear. Ba is virtually eliminated from the competition, the presence of Komolong in their final pool match would be the last chance for him to be used by the Fijian side in the competition – whether this will be his last chance to play for Ba or not, only the next chapter of this story will be able to tell us.

Unforgettable: Lupe o le Soaga made history for Samoa at OFC Champions League

The Samoan Champions made history at Stade de Mahina, Tahiti against the Fijian outfit Ba in the second matchday of OFC Champions League – Group D. It was the first time ever a team coming from Samoa won a match at the group stage of the tournament.

The same Lupe was the team to get the best ever result for Samoa before this match: in 2015 they draw against Tahitian side AS Pirae by 3-3 – the only time a Samoan team did not lose in the group stage of the continental tournament.

In 2019, Kiwi was the representant of Samoa in the tournament and they also faced the Fijian Ba. In that opportunity, the Samoans could not get a better result than a 5-1 defeat – this time the history was pretty different for the team coached by Paul Ualesi.

Image may contain: 5 people, outdoor — Lupe celebrates one of their goals – *OFC Media*

Lupe had the best 45 minutes of their history as Jamie Mason, Tom Mosquera, Vaa Taualai and Ritchievoy Ueligitone scored four goals against the semi-pro Fijian side to have a huge advantage at the halftime. This was also the first time a team from Samoa scored four goal in a single match at OFC Champions League.

Despite the efforts of Ba in the second half – scoring three goals through Malakai Tiwa, Saula Waqa and Samuela Drudru – the three goals scored were not enough to match the advatange made by Lupe o le Soaga in the first 45 minutes of the game. The 4-3 historical win for the Samoan side keep their chances to proceed alive, while Ba will need a miracle against AS Vénus to cut their -7 goal deficit and support for a defeat of Lupe against Auckland City to proceed.

Lupe is going to have an even harder battle against Auckland City in the final matchday. The Samoans might now how hard it will be to proceed as they will need a win over the nine-time champions, but they surely can be already very proud of what they have done for their club and for the entire Samoan football community.

Jared Clark called up for Vanuatu National Team

A 54-men provisional list for 2020 OFC Nations Cup was released by Vanuatu Football Federation and one of the most interesting news comes from Australia: Jared Clark is part of this list.

Born in Australia, Clark’s mother is from Vanuatu. After spending some time working on getting the Ni-Vanuatu citizenship it seems that he finally got it as he was named as part of the provisional list. You can check the full list by clicking here.

Jared Clark playing for Adelaide United.

Clark is a 22-year-old player that can play as a defender or a defensive midfielder. He is going to be the second player born in Australia to represent Vanuatu by following Mitch Cooper’s steps. He is currently playing for Croydon Kings in Australia after spending two seasons with Adelaide United U21 squad.

Provisional list for Vanuatu National Team is released

Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF) released men’s National Team provisional list for this year. The list counts on with 54 players. It is the beginning of Vanuatu’s preparation for 2020 OFC Nations Cup.

Some important players like Brian Kaltak, Bong Kalo, John Alick and Jason Thomas are confirmed in the provisional squad while there are many new players in the list like Ba’s player Micah Tommy. You can check the squad by clicking here.

There is no official confirmation about who is going to be Vanuatu’s next head coach but it seems that Etienne Mermer is the favourite to take the charge. He managed the U23 squad in the OFC Olympic Qualifiers held in Fiji last year. The trainings are scheduled to begin on March 9th at Port Vila Stadium.

Auckland City has to fight to beat brave AS Vénus at Stade de Mahina

The nine-time champions Auckland City had to battle hard to surpass by the minimum scoreline the good side of AS Vénus at Stade de Mahina for the second matchday of OFC Champions League – Group D. The New Zealanders had chances to score more goals, but also had to defend well to avoid the good striking force commanded by Teaonui Tehau.

Myer Bevan had a chance in front of Teave Teamotuaitau just at the starting of the clash, but the Tahitian goalkeeper could manage well to avoid the goal. Teamotuaitau was one of the best players in the clash, helping his side to manage well the New Zealand-based club pressure and making some very decent stops.

Vénus also had some opportunities; Conor Tracey tangled with Teaonui Tehau just at the edge of the box, the ball was kept by the forward that went to an empty-net goal, but the goalkeeper managed to bouce back in the play and send the ball to a corner.

The defensive line of Auckland City was solid, providing opportunities to explore the creativity of its midfielders. Clayton Lewis and Emiliano Tade combined well and the ball found Myer Bevan at the 41th of play, the striker just finish behind Teave Teamotuaitau to score Auckland first goal in the encounter.

Image may contain: 2 people, people playing sports and outdoor — Bevan touches the ball to AS Vénus nets – *Christophe Fotozz*

AS Vénus wanted to make history in front of their crowd; in the second half the Mahina-based site went forward looking for an equalizer. Teoanui Tehau made a fantastic play passing by two Auckland City defenders, but his shot hit the wrong side of the net. Tamatoa Tetauira had a great chance with a free-kick, but the shot went wide.

Samuel Garcia continued to urge his player to go upfront; Auckland City was offered the counter-attack, but could not connect one good play in order to double their advatange. The Tahitians continued to press, testing the defensive system created by José Figueira until the last minute of the game. Stanley Atani crossed several balls to box, but the defensive players of Auckland could manage well the danger.

Myer Bevan had the best opportunity of the second half for Auckland City, after the goalkeeper using his hands outside the box – but not being sent off. The free-kick was close, but ended up only with a corner for the visitors. Auckland wasted a lot of time in the final moments of the game, but AS Vénus still managed to get one last chance to find their goal. Tauhiti Keck had a wide free-kick in the right flank, but he decided to fire directly to Conor Tracey goal and the goalkeeper did not have any trouble to hold the ball.

The 1-0 victory for the New Zealand representatives is enough to put them already in the knock-out stage of the competition with still one match to be played against Lupe o le Soaga. Vénus will have to get a win against Ba to not depend on any other results in the final matchday to proceed to the quarterfinals.

Vénus shown a lot of quality, fight and technique; they could really test the strongest team in Oceania at Stade de Mahina. The defensive system of Auckland City worked really well, dealing with the pressure of the home side to grab the win. The Ni-Vanuatu international Brian Kaltak had a fantastic game and helped a lot his team to secure a clean sheet – AS Vénus will be happy with their performance despite the bad result, the likes of Pothin Poma, Marama Amau and Tamatoa Tetauira had very good individual matches, but those could not be enough to surpass the mighty Auckland City.

Unrecognizable Ba defeated by Lupe o le Soaga in historic result

Do not let the final score trick you, Ba had an awful performance. Lupe o le Soaga took advantage of a ridiculous Ba in the first half to score four goals. The Men in Black tried to recover in second half but it was not enough to tie the match as they were just an amount of players inside a football pitch. The final score is historic for Lupe and shameful for Ba.

Lupe o le Soaga humiliated Ba in the first half. The Samoans took advantage of Ba’s apathy to score four goals in 45 minutes. Jamie Mason headed to the net in the 11th minute after a cross from the left wing to open the scoreboard. This goal destabilized Ba that got completely lost in the pitch while Lupe started to have lots of opportunities.

Tom Mosquera extended Lupe’s lead in the 29th minute and Vaa Taualai put Ba in trouble by scoring the third after receiving the ball inside the box in the 38th minute. The Samoans still had time to score another goal when defender Ritchievoy Ueligitone had a successful finish that found the net.

The first half’s result was a shame for Ba and showed that something strange could be happening there as they were being thrashed even having a better squad. The 4-0 score in the halfitme was a shock and caused hysteria in the social media.

Samoan players celebrating one of their four goals in the first half. Source: Christophe Photozz

Things have changed in the second half as the Fijian side put a lot of unorganized pressure on Lupe’s defense. The Men in Black seemed just eleven boys running with a ball while the Samoans tried to hold their advantage. The apathy was replaced by willpower.

Despite the disorganization, Ba managed to score three goals in four minutes (Malakai Tiwa at 73, Saula Waqa at 74 and Samuela Drudru at 76) during the second half to come back to the game. They had some other opportunities to score and tie the match but they did not manage to put the ball into the net but it was not enough and the justice was made: Ba have never deserved to win this match.

The 4-3 win is historic for Lupe as it was the first time of OFC Champions League’s history that a Samoan side score four goals in a Group Stage clash (which does not include Preliminary Round games). It surely satisfies the Samoans as they have already completed their mission as head coach Paul Ualesi told Oceania Football Center that Lupe’s goal was to win one match in the group stage.

Ba will face AS Vénus in the last matchday while Lupe o le Soaga will fight against Auckland City. Both matches will be played on March 7th.

Hosts AS Vénus will have a hard challenge against Auckland City

The hosts AS Vénus will not have an easy task against the nine-time champions Auckland City in the second matchday of the group D at Stade de Mahina, Tahiti.

The Tahitian champions started well the competition with a dominant 6-0 win over Lupe o le Soaga, but certainly this game will much more harder for them. Auckland also started the competition with a strong performance against Ba from Fiji; a brace from Emiliano Tade helped the New Zealand-based side to beat the Fijians by 6-0 at Stade Pater in both sides debut in the 2020 edition of the regional tournament.

Auckland will expect a win from this clash despite playing against Vénus and their home crowd at Stade de Mahina. The likes of Myer Bevan, Logan Rogerson and Emiliano Tade will be certainly names that Samuel Garcia and his men will want to shut down in order to avoid a defeat in front of their supporters.

Image may contain: 4 people, people playing sports and outdoor — Auckland will hope for another win over AS Vénus – *OFC Media*

Vénus will expect his defensive line led by the New Caledonian international Pothin Poma can stop the strong attack of the team coached by José Figueira. In attack, the duo Teaonui Tehau and Tamatoa Tetaiura will hope to cause trouble for the very well organized defensive system of Auckland City.

Auckland will expect to hold Tetauira that scored a hattrick againt Lupe o le Soaga in their latest match in the process to win and guarantee their spot in the knock-out stage of OFC Champions League one more time.

Image may contain: 1 person, standing, outdoor and nature — Tamatoa Tetaiura scored three times for AS Vénus against Lupe o le Soaga – *OFC Media*

A win for any of the two sides will almost guarantee them a spot in the knock-out stage of the competition – a thrilling match in front of the Tahitian side home crowd, against the most prominent team ever from Oceania, a decisive match that shows the quality of Oceania football.

Algarve Cup: Ferns beat Belgium to proceed to semifinals

The New Zealand women’s national team is competing at Algarve Cup, a traditional women’s football friendly tournament hosted in Portugal. The Ferns are competing in the tournament alongnside some of the most important football teams of the planet, as Germany and Norway.

The Ferns battled hard in their first match in the tournament – quaterfinals stage – against the 17th placed team at FIFA Women’s football rankings Belgium – see here New Zealand starting XI. In the first half, Olivia Chance player from Bristol City in England scored for New Zealand – his first international goal for her country.

Olivia Chance (center) scored for New Zealand – *NZF Media*

New Zealand could not secure their lead until the final whistle; at the 90th minute of play Chloe Velde scored the equalizer for Belgim to force the decision to be at penalty shootout. Since the 72th minute New Zealand were playing with only ten, as the central defender Claudia Bunge was sent off.

Both sides scored all their first five penalties in the process. In the decisive penalty series, Belgium missed its 6th penalty but CJ Bott could not capitalize her penalty and kept the series tied. The goalkeeper Erin Nayler came up as hero after saving the final penalty of Belgium and Daisy Cleverley scored the goal that sent New Zealand to the semifinals.

The Football Ferns will take on Italy that defeated the hosts Portugal in the quarterfinals by 2-1 for a spot in the grand final. Germany and Norway will make the other semifinal of Algarve Cup.

Lae City vs Hekari United: a match that deserves national live coverage

The PNG National Soccer League is eager for its next matchday; the two-national powerhouses will face each other in one of the most interesting matches of Oceania in the year so far. Lae City will take on Hekari United at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium, Lae – a rematch from the national league final in 2019 where Lae City ended up with the title after beating Hekari in the penalty shootout.

Image may contain: 1 person, playing a sport and outdoor — The grand final last year – *PNGFA Media*

The fans all over Papua New Guinea are complaining regarding the poor media coverage of the matches: the fans and independent media do not have official access to team sheets, match results and stats from the FA and surely the matches are not streamed or telecasted national-wide.

Currently, only Tusbab Stallions from Madang is making a big effort to stream their home matches at Laiwaden Oval in partnership with a local TV station – differently from what happens in the matches in all other venues, Lae, Port Moresby and Goroka.

Both Lae and Hekari had their matches of OFC Champions League streamed in the last month; despite not proceeding to the knock-out stage, both sides are still at the top of PNG National Soccer League battling direct for the 1st spot in the standings.

The interest in the national-derby is high among all football fans and media in the country and in the region: Hekari United and Lae City have foreign players in their squads, what would increase the interest in the match from even outside Papua New Guinea.

For the development of the game in the country and to keep increasing the interested in football, It is pretty important to have this match with a big coverage, well marketed and attracting new fans to the game – to inspire the young generations to follow the steps of players as David Muta, Koriak Upaiga and Raymond Gunemba, or make their eyes shine with the quality of players as Vinicius Reis from Brazil, the midfielder of Hekari United.

Oceania Football Center continues to focus its efforts to popularize the sport in Papua New Guinea and Oceania, providing the most important news, results and interviews our media group can have access. We are indepently maintaining the standings, full results and top scorers of the season updated in the PNG NSL session in this website – but, of course, it would be much better for all journalists and fans to be able to watch the live match to make its own analysis and keep football running in the region.

Ba and Lupe o le Soaga have decisive clash at OFC Champions League

The group D of the OFC Champions League is back to Stade de Mahina in its second matchday. Ba from Fiji and Lupe o le Soaga from Samoa will play for their lives in the first match of the day as both sides suffered harsh defeats in their debuts against Auckland City and AS Vénus.

The Fijians are certainly the favourites to win the clash, but lots of questions are on their shoulders after the smashing 6-0 defeat against Auckland City with many problems in their squad – they will need to find their way back to the good football to beat Lupe o le Soaga. The Samoans know the hurdles they will have to overcome against Ba, but they are ready to grab an upset and keep their chances alive in the regional tournament.

The team coached by Paul Ualesi will expect a different match from what happened in their debut against AS Vénus where they were defeat by 6-0. Lupe will hope its captain Andrew Setefano can guide his defensive to a better performance to hold the powerful attack of Ba. The New Zealand goalkeeper Zane Green did not have a good match against the Tahitians, but he is still a big hope for Lupe to avoid a defeat against the current Fijian champions. Tom Mosquera and Jamie Mason are the offensive imports of Lupe in attack, that will hope to combine well with the Samoan international Vaa Taualai and Albert Bell upfront.

Image may contain: 1 person, playing a sport, grass and outdoor — Lupe o le Soaga will expect a lot from its captain Andrew Setefano – *OFC Media*

The Fijians probrably will see the debut of the Papua New Guinean international Alwin Komolong in the back, but their biggest hopes are in attack – especially with the Solomon Islands legend Benjamin Totori and the Fijian international Samuela Drudru.

Ba will also count with the impressive young talent from Vanuatu Micah Tommy, alongside the U23 Solomon Islands national team member Darold Kakasi. Team captain Saula Waqa is finally back to Ba after a long-term injury and will hope to combine well with his new teammates in attack to provide the dominant win Ba will need to keep their chances alive for the final matchday in the pool.

The match is decisive for both sides: the winner will keep their chances to proceed, while the loser will be knock-out of the tournament with still one match to be played. A draw will not be a good deal for any of the sides, despite it will keep their chances alive in the process, but depending a lot on their final matches against Auckland City and AS Vénus.