The Fijians commanded by the New Zealand football legend Ricki Herbert are not going to have an easy challenge against the powerhouse Auckland City in the first match of group D of OFC Champions League 2020.
Ba boosted their squad with the addition of the Papua New Guinean international Alwin Komolong – that might be key to hold the strong attack of Auckland City -, but can be also very dangerous upfront with the likes of Benjamin Totori and Samuela Drudru.
The Fijians will need to be at their best to avoid a defeat against the New Zealanders and this is something the coach Herbert certainly knows: the New Zealand-side coach José Figueira has plenty of quality to choose from, couting on players as Clayton Lewis, Myer Bevan and Adam Mitchell in their squad – all of them with European and New Zealand national team experience.
Clayton Lewis is instrumental for Auckland City – NZF Media
Auckland is coming with, probrably, their strongest ever squad for an OFC Champions League edition, but Ba might be also in the same stage: the Fijians added very important players to their team in order to compete at continental stage and had a long period of preparation guided by a very experienced coach.
The defensive system of the Men in Black might where the game will be decided: the experienced goalkeeper Beniamino Mateinaqara will need to be at his best, alongside with his defensive players led by the Fijian international Laisenia Raura.
Ba will have a big challenge – FFA Media
Despite the clear favouritism of Auckland City for the encounter, the clash of two giants of Oceanian football will be a very interesting match to watch – expecting a defensive strong approach of the Fijians against the very good side from New Zealand. Stade Pater will be the venue directly from Pirae, Tahiti for this very important match, the opener of the group D of OFC Champions League 2020.
After not taking part in the 2019 OFC Champions League, the powerful defender Brian Kaltak is set to represent the New Zealand-based club Auckland City in the 2020 edition of the most important club football tournament of Oceania. The 26-year-old central defender is confirmed in the final squad of the Navy Blues that is in Tahiti to play the group D of the OFC Champions League.
Brian Kaltak – ACFC Media
Kaltak already played 23 matches of OFC Champions League, being Auckland City the sixth club the Ni-Vanuatu international will represent in the regional tournament. The defender alreeady defended two clubs from Vanuatu – Erakor Golden Star and Amicale -, Solomon Warriors from Solomon Islands, Lautoka from Fiji and Hekari United from Papua New Guinea. In 2018, Kaltak helped Lautoka to reach the finals of the tournament, but his former team was beaten in the final by Team Wellington.
Auckland City will start their campaign in the OFC Champions League against Ba from Fiji at Stade Pater, Tahiti.
The Samoan champions Lupe o le Soaga are not going to have an easy task in the group D of the OFC Champions League: they are grouped alongside the hosts and champions of Tahiti AS Vénus, the Fijian powerhose and title holders of Vodafone Premier League Ba and the hardest of them all, the nine-time champions Auckland City from New Zealand.
But the coach of the Samoan side, Paul Ualesi, still have one ambitious goal for this tournament: to win at least one match. Lupe, in their previous campaigns at OFC Champions League, was able to draw a match already, know they are looking to move one step ahead. “To be realistic, I know it is not going to be easy for us as underdogs, but our goal is to win a game against these top teams from the Oceania. We need to achieve that goal” says the head coach of Lupe o le Soaga.
Andrew Setefano and Paul Ualesi (right) at OFC Press Conferece – OFC Media
“The preparation is going well, we expect a really tough pool and a different level in this stage, but we are coming to compete on this level. Great exposure and experience to our players and whole team“, mentions Ualesi.
For the group stage, Lupe picked three New Zealand imports to help them in the process, players that Ualesi expect can be instrumental to achieve their goals: “It is really important to have them to assist and help us a lot, sharing their experience to our local young lads“, states the former player.
Lupe is going to start their campaign against the hosts AS Vénus in Stade Pater expecting for the best for the brave Samoan side.
It is not nothing new for the Oceania football fans that Auckland City comes as heavy favourites for this edition of the OFC Champions League. The New Zealand powerhouse won nine of the 15 participations in the most important club football tournament of the region and in 2020 they expect to be back to the winning ways after not sealing the title for two years a row.
But the result of a football match comes just after 90 minutes; Auckland City will have to overcome all the 16 sides in the competition to grab their 10th trophy of the regional tournament. In the 2019 edition, the apotheotic win of AS Magenta in the semifinal over the Navy Blues is still something fresh in José Figueira men’s mind – the same mistakes can not happen to finally retain back the continental glory.
One of the most important players of the offensive structure of the former Team Wellington coach is ready for the challenge. The 21-year-old wonderkid Logan Rogerson is there to be key upfront – being a major threat for Ba, Venus and Lupe o le Soaga in the group stage. “Our expectation is to win the Champions League and qualify for the Club World Cup“, says the forward.
Logan Rogerson – ACFC Media
Rogerson and his teammates are prepared for the tournament, as they top the ISPS Handa Premiership, the first tier of football in New Zealand: “The preparation is already going very good. We are enjoying being in Tahiti“, mentions Rogerson.
Rogerson’s coach, José Figueira, already knows how it is to win the OFC Champions League as he guided Team Wellington to the title in the 2018 edition of the tournament; his advices are certainly important for Auckland City squad: “The main advice from José is that we must stick to our own style of play and keep to the system in every game regardless of the score and who we are playing“, says OlyWhites captain Logan Rogerson.
The message from the coach is clear: we are here to win and we are going to play to win. Auckland City is set to have no mercy – if they have the opportunity to score, they are not going to waste it. “We have a lot of experienced players that have played against these teams [from Oceania] and have won Champions League titles. The coaching staff will prepare us perfect for these matches“, states Rogerson.
The Navy Blues have a stellar squad; Rogerson will have alongside him the All-Whites members Myer Bevan, Adam Mitchell, Clayton Lewis, Tom Doyle and Cameron Howieson. Another very important names are the Ni-Vanuatu international Brian Kaltak, the Spaniards Albert Riera and Angel Berlanga and the legend and top-goalscorer in history for Auckland City, the Argentinian Emiliano Tade.
When the Fijians of Ba enter the pitch to face the New Zealand side in their debut in the tournament, they know they will have a hard task: Auckland is back, stronger than ever, but only after 90 minutes we will know the outcome of the clash.
The Solomon Islands champions Solomon Warriors started in fashion their campaign in a hard fought win over the newcomers from Tahiti AS Tiare Tahiti thanks a clinical header by their star-player Dennis Ifunaoa.
The Solomon Islanders controled most of the match, lost some good goalscoring opportunities including one penalty-kick lost by the Ni-Vanuatu international John Alick. Despite playing a better game, the Tahitian side were also dangerous in the counter-attacks forcing the goalkeeper Timothy Maerasia to make some important stops.
Ifunaoa talked to Oceania Football Center and expressed his joy for scoring and winning this very important match: “We are very happy for winning the match, despite some of our players picked up injuries in the game“, stated the Solomon Islands international.
Dennis Ifunaoa playing in Telekom S-League – The Island Sun News
As mentioned by the forward, some of his teammates suffered minor injuries during the match, including himself: “I received a knock in my right leg, I am struggling to walk properly for now, but I expect to play the next game“, said the attacker.
The representatives from Solomon Islands made a very important step towards qualification for the knock-out stage with their 1-0 victory over Tiare Tahiti, since now both sides only have one match remaining in the group C – both against the hosts AS Magenta from New Caledonia – as the Cook Islands side Tupapa Maraerenga withdrew from the competition.
ATK visited Bengaluru FC at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the first leg of 2019-20 Indian Super League semifinals. Despite having 63% of ball possession, the team from Kolkata failed to score and lost by 1-0 as they had only one shot on target while Bengaluru took advantage from counter-attacking situations.
Fijian forward Roy Krishna was ATK’s captain in the match but he did not perform well as he lost the ball for many times and he also did not have a good record on passing and shooting.
Krishna (fallen) did not perform well against Bengaluru FC
The second leg will be played in Kolkata on Sunday. Krishna and ATK will have the tough mission to reverse their disadvantage. It is time for the Fijian star prove his real value by being decisive in the crunch time.
Scrivere sul calcio oceaniano non è facile, come potrete immaginare. Ogni giorno accendiamo il nostro laptop e iniziamo a cercare nuove storie che sono molto difficili da trovare. Raccogliamo informazioni su storie e novità intervistando giocatori, allenatori e dirigenti delle varie squadre dell’Oceania. È stancante ed è un duro lavoro e quasi sempre non da molte soddisfazioni. Nonostante ciò, continuiamo a farlo perché sappiamo che prima o poi succederà qualcosa di fantastico che ci metterà in pace con il mondo. La storia che state per leggere rappresenta proprio il senso di realizzazione che ognuno dovrebbe provare quando si lavora su mondi così lontani nello spazio e nel tempo. Qualche giorno fa ho intervistato, per Oceania Football Center, la grande speranza del calcio femminile tahitiano, Kiani Wong. Ma iniziamo dal principio, no?
Kiani Wong con la tenuta del Cardiff City FC
Kiani è nata il 21/11/2000 a Papeete, Tahiti. È alta 1,70 me pesa 69 kg. Le piace giocare al centrocampo e il suo idolo assoluto è Leo Messi. Ha 19 anni e vive in Inghilterra dopo aver firmato un contratto con la squadra di calcio femminile dello Yeovil Town, la cui prima squadra gioca nella Southern Premier Division femminile della FA Women ma che ha un passato glorioso. A marzo 2019, la precedente società che militava nella Premier League femminile ha presentato istanza di fallimento ed è scomparsa. Il nuovo proprietario viene riavviato da zero e la FA ha concesso solo la licenza della terza serie. Ma torniamo a Kiani e al suo presente. Il programma di sviluppo giovanile dello Yeovil è molto interessante. Implica la collaborazione con due università della regione, il Bridgwater & Taunton College (BTC) e l’University Center Somerset, nonché, naturalmente, il lavoro sul campo.
La prima squadra dello Yeovil Town FC 2019/2020 – Kiani è nella fila più alta, in piedi, la terza a partire da destra
“Ho iniziato a giocare a calcio quando avevo 4 anni. Sono sempre stato prima degli altri “, ci dice Kiani con un bellissimo sorriso, “e a Tahiti c’erano solo squadre maschili. Ho suonato con loro fino al mio arrivo in Francia nel 2016. ” Kiani è partita da Tahiti quando era molto giovane. Aveva solo 16 anni ed era sola. “Mia mamma è partita insieme a me. Mi ha aiutato nei primi mesi a Strasburgo, poi se n’è andata e ho dovuto farcela da sola. ” Ciò che percepisci mentre la ascolti di avere davanti a te una donna giovane ma molto determinata, consapevole del suo destino e desiderosa che questo accada. “All’inizio, è stato difficile passare dalla cultura tahitiana alla cultura francese, europea, perché ci sono così tante differenze ed essere così lontani dai miei genitori non è stato per niente facile quando sei così giovane come lo ero io, all’epoca. Anche quest’anno non credo di riuscire ad andare in vacanza a Tahiti. ”, Continua Kiani. “Quando sono arrivata a Strasburgo, mi sono trasferita all’FC Vendenheim, un pole d’espoir feminine“. In Francia, se vuoi avere qualche speranza di diventare un calciatore o una calciatrice professionista, puoi farlo solo se entri in un’Accademia come quella di Kiani. Non è affatto facile sfondare ma la giovane calciatrice tahitiano sa cosa serve per arrivare dove vuole.
Kiani Wong con la maglia della sua nazionale con cui ha già 12 presenze
Kiani, non appena si è presentata una grande opportunità, in Inghilterra si, dove il livello del calcio femminile è persino più alto che in Francia, ha colto l’occasione al volo e si è trasferita nella terra d’Albione. “Sono venuta qui perché voglio diventare una giocatrice professionista. È sempre stato il mio sogno. Devo dire che in Inghilterra si vivrebbe anche bene se non fosse per la pioggia“, dice una Kiani sorridente. “Non devi mai arrenderti, devi sempre lavorare sodo anche se è difficile ma il lavoro pagherà sempre“, queste sono le ultime parole che scambiamo con lei. Deve lasciarci per andare alle sessioni di allenamento pomeridiane. Dopo aver visto il campionato del mondo femminile che si è svolto in Francia nel 2019, possiamo dire che il livello del calcio femminile si è alzato notevolmente. Oggi molte donne calciatrici riescono a guadagnarsi da vivere con il proprio lavoro, una cosa impensabile fino a qualche anno fa. Ciò è accaduto perché giocatori come l’americana Megan Rapinoe hanno combattuto e continuano a farlo per far riconoscere i diritti di tutta la categoria. Se guardiamo in prospettiva possiamo tranquillamente affermare che il futuro del calcio femminile è nelle mani di donne coraggiose come Kioni e siamo sicuri che siano le mani sicure … oops … i piedi più sicuri in cui lasciarlo. Faaitoito Kioni Wong per il tuo futuro.
Écrire sur le football en Oceanie n’est pas facile. Chaque jour, on commence à chercher des nouvelles histoires qui sont tres difficiles à trouver. Nous rassemblons les informations en interrogeant les joueurs, les entraîneurs et les managers des différentes équipes d’Oceanie. C’est un travail fatigant, acharné et presque toujours sans aucune satisfaction. Malgré cela nous continuons à le faire parce que nous savons que quelque chose de fantastique arrivera tôt ou tard qui nous mettra en paix avec le monde. La pièce que vous apprêtez à lire représente dans son intégralité le sentiment d’accomplissement que vous devriez essayer lorsque vous travaillez sur des mondes si éloignés. J’ai interviewer, depuis de quelques jours, pour Oceania Football Center, le grande espérance du football féminin tahitien, Kiani Wong.
Kiani Wong avec le maillot du Cardiff City FC
Kiani est née à le 21/11/2000 a Papeete, Tahiti. Elle mesure 1.70m et elle pèse 69 kg. Elle aime joue au milieu du terrain et son idole est Leo Messi. Aujourd’hui, elle a 19 ans et vit en Angleterre après avoir signé un contrat avec le club de football féminin de Yeovil Town, dont la première équipe joue dans la FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division. En effet, en mars 2019, la société précédente qui joué dans la Premier Ligue feminine a déposé son bilan. Le nouveau propriétaire est redémarré à partir de zéro et la FA n’a accordé que la licence de troisième série. Mais revenons à Kiani. Le programme de développement pour les jeunes a Yeovil est très intéressant. Il implique une collaboration avec deux universités de la région, Bridgwater & Taunton College (BTC) et University Center Somerset, ainsi que, bien sûr, le travail sur le terrain.
La premiere equipe de Yeovil Town FC 2019/2020 – Kiani c’est la troisieme a partire de la droite dans la file plus haute
“J’ai commencè a jouer au football a l’age de 4 ans. J’ai toujours été plus tôt que les autres“, Kiani nous dit ça avec un beau souris, “et il n’y avait que des équipes masculines a Tahiti. Je joué avec eux jusqu’à mon arrivée en France en 2016“. Kiani est partie très jeune. Il n’avait que 16 ans et elle etait toute seule. “Ma maman est partie avec moi. Elle m’a aidé dans les premiers mois à Strasbourg, puis elle est partie et j’ai dû me débrouiller toute seule.” Ce que vous percevez en l’écoutant, c’est d’avoir devant vous une femme jeune mais très déterminée, consciente de son destin et désireuse de le concrétiser. “Au début, il a était difficile de passer de la culture tahitienne à la culture française, européenne, car il y a tellement de différenceset être si loin des mes parents ce n’est jamais facile quand on est si jeune comme moi. Cette année, je ne pense pas d’aller pour les vacances a Tahiti.“, a continué Kiani. “A Strasbourg, j’ai déménagé au FC Vendenheim, un pôle espoir féminin.” En France, si vous voulez avoir un quelconque espoir de devenir footballeur ou footballeuse professionnel, vous ne pouvez le faire que si vous entrez dans une académie comme celle nommée par Kiani. C’est pas du tout facile mais la jeune footballeuse tahitienne sait bien ce qu’il faut pour arriver où il veut.
Kiani Wong avec l’équipe nationale de Tahiti. 12 caps pour elle.
Elle a donc déménagé, dès qu’une belle opportunité s’est présentée, en Angleterre où le niveau du football féminin est encore plus élevé qu’en France. “Je suis venu ici parce que je veux être un joueur professionnel. Cela a toujours été mon rêve. Puis en Angleterre on vit bien sauf la pluie“, dit une souriante Kiani. “Il faut jamais lâcher, il faut toujours travailler dure même si c’est difficile le travaille sera toujour payant”, ce sont ce derniers mots avec nous car elle doit nous quitter pour aller aux séances d’entraînement.
Après avoir vu le championnat du monde féminin qui s’est déroulé en France en 2019, on peut dire avec sérénité, que le niveau du football féminin a définitivement augmenté. Aujourd’hui, de nombreuses footballeuses parviennent à vivre de leur travail, qui était impensable jusqu’à il y a quelques années. Cela est arrivé parce que des joueueses comme l’américaine Megan Rapinoe se sont battus et continuent de le faire pour voir leurs droits reconnus. Aujourd’hui, l’avenir du football féminin est entre les mains de femmes courageuses comme Kioni et nous sommes sûrs que ce sont des mains… oups… des pieds sûrs pour le quitter.
Faaitoito Kioni Wong pour ton futur.
Un video du 2017 de la 1ere Polynesie avec Kioni Wong
The fifth matchweek of 2020 Vodafone Premier League is over. Three matches were played in the top-tier of Fijian football and Oceania Football Center brings a full review of these clashes to you. Scroll down and check it!
Nasinu received Suva at Ratu Cakobau Park in a breathtaking match. The match started with some bad news for Suva as Nigerian forward Jibola Afonja left the pitch injured in the 22nd minute. He was replaced by Ravnit Chand.
The Capital City Boys opened the scoreboard with Jonetani Buksh in the 30th minute but they did not have much time to celebrate because Luke Savu found the net for Nasinu. The Giantkillers had a major blow when Sekove Naivakananumi was sent off so they had to play the whole second half with just ten players.
Suva took advantage of the situation and scored two goals to extend their lead to 3-1. However Nasinu managed to tie the match as Solomon Islands player Jared Rongosulia scored twice from the penalty spot. He also had the opportunity another penalty kick goal but it was disallowed by the referee because he made an irregular move to take the penalty. Lots of people reacted to this situation by cursing the referees.
Jared Rongosulia scored a brace for Nasinu. Source: FIJI FA MEDIA
However, according to FIFA rules, referee Kavitesh Behari acted perfectly when he disallowed Rongosulia’s goal. The final score was 3-3 and it was not a very good result for both teams. Suva remains unbeaten in the tournament but they are still in the fourth position with five points while Nasinu is in sixth with four points.
In the second match contested at Ratu Cakobau Park, current league leaders Rewa received bottom placed Navua. Patrick Joseph opened the scoreboard from the penalty spot in the first half to score his third goal in three matches (all of them from the penalty spot) while Epeli Valevou found the net in the second half to extend Delta Tigers’ lead. The second half was a bit spicy as Bruce Hughes from Rewa and Navua’s captain Netani Doli were sent off in the 67th minute after a confusion.
Navua still had time to score through Monit Chand but it was not enough. At the final whistle the score was 2-1 for Rewa that leads the league with twelve points in five matches.
Valevou scored Rewa’s second goal. Source: FIJI FA MEDIA
In the third and last match of the day, Labasa visited Lautoka at Churchill Park. It was Lautoka’s first official match after being eliminated in the 2020 OFC Champions League. The biggest surprise came from Labasa as Siotame Kubu started the match on the bench. They did not count on Ni-Vanuatu forward Alex Saniel who returned to New Zealand right after the Champions League. Goalkeeper Liam Anderson and defender Jack Caunter came back to New Zealand as well.
There were no goals in this match as it finished drawn – 0-0. Lautoka is currently in the second position with seven points while Labasa is having an awful beginning in the league with just one win in five matches.
You can check the current standings and the top scorers by clicking here.
A 20:00 ce soir au Stade Pater de Pirae, Tahiti, le AS Vénus fera son début en OFC Champions League 2020 contre le Lupe ou Le Soaga. Un démarrage en douceur pour les hôtes tahitiens qui ont l’ambition de franchir cette premiere phase a groups et d’aller le plus loin possible dans la compétition continentale. Quelques heures avant du match nous avons échangé quelques mots avec le milieu de terrain de l’AS Venus Tahitian, Tauhiti Keck. Il a 26 ans et c’est un international, car il a joué 6 match avec son equipe nationale.
Mahina, Tahiti
C’est la première fois que le stade municipal de Mahina accueillera un match de OFC Champions League et il y a beaucoup d’attentes de la part de la fan base de Vénus.”Nous attendons que le fans nous supporte avec force car on aura besoin d’eux pour gagner les matchs. Ils doivent être le 12éme homme sur le terrain. Il y aura du monde, des jeunes, des moin jeunes et on espere que le foot sera magnifique pour tous“, nous a dit Kreck, “Ce sont des matchs que en à pas l’habitude de recevoir chez nous a Mahina, et là c’est l’occasione de montrer des matchs de haut niveau sur nos terres pour le plaisir de nos familles, de nos supporter de Vénus.“
“Nous nous sommes bien préparés. On a pas changé non habitudes. On a un bon coach avec un bon staff pour les entraînements. Nous les joueurs nous attendons ce moment avec impatience. Nous avons hâte de jouer“, a continue le milieu du terrain tahitien.
Le groupe D n’est pas si simple. Il y a deux équipes avec lesquelles Vénus se disputera le passage de la manche le neozelandais du Auckland FC, l’equipe plus titreé du continent, et le fijiens du BA FC. “C’est un group tres difficile“, continue Kreck, “de toute façon la OFC Champions League n’est jamais facile. En connait tous Auckland. C’est un grande equipe avec un beau jeu. BA FC a un jeu athletique tres bons, e meme le samoa on doit pas le laisser jouer.Nous on va se battre quoiqu’il arrive avec tout notre coeur“
Nous espérons que l’AS Vénus fera bonne figure devant son public et devant a tous ceux qui le suivront de chez lui. Ce serait un excellent spot pour le football tahitien si son équipe la plus importante réussissait à avancer dans la compétition continentale.
Oceania Football Center 