The most important club football tournament of Oceania had its group stage finished after the 4-2 win of AS Vénus of Tahiti against Ba from Fiji in the last match of the stage. The OFC Champions League of 2020 now knows exactly the eight teams that are qualified for the knock-out stage of the regional tournament.
AS Vénus was the last side to seal their spot in the quarterfinals – OFC Media
You can check below all the clubs that continues in the competition – It is knock-out stage time!
OFC will release a draw to set the four quarterfinal matches; the 1st placed teams of each group (Eastern Suburbs, Malampa Revivors, AS Magenta and Auckland City) will host each of the games – the winner proceeds.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and grand final are all played in one-direct elimination match. Only the hosts of the quarterfinals are decided according to the teams peformances in the group stage, the following phases of the competition will be also decided through a draw made by Oceania Football Confederation.
Papua New Guinea international Wira Wama has returned to Hekari United for the second half of the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, according to sources close to the player.
Wira Wama has already had two stints with Hekari United, from 2010-2013 and from 2016-2019.
The 30-year-old, who has five senior caps for his country, has returned from studies in the United States, and was quickly snapped up by the league leaders to bolster their midfield options.
Hekari have also today confirmed the signing of Gulf Komara’s central defender Carlos Onne. The 20-year-old is an excellent signing, not just for this season but also for the future of the club. Onne is currently playing in his fourth NSL season, having played for a different club each year: he played for PS Rutz in 2017, Southern Strikers in 2018, and Eastern Stars last season, before moving to Gulf Komara. This will be his fifth club in four years.
According to rumours, Hekari are also hoping to bring Solomon Islands international Tutizama Tanito, 26, back to the club, although his current side, Henderson Eels, are in the quarter-finals of the OFC Champions League, so it’s unclear as to whether Tanito would be willing to sacrifice a shot at OFC glory to return to the club where he spent five seasons between 2011 and 2016.
Ba played their best game in the competition, but still disappointed their fans after giving up a two-nil lead against the hosts AS Vénus. The Tahitian side could complete a comeback still in the first half to seal their spot in the knock-out stage of OFC Champions League.
Ba started very strong the match – differently from their previous two matches – and opened the scoreline with just two minutes in the clock. Samuela Drudru scored after a great run in the flank, passed the defender and with a fantastic finish he found the back of the net.
Eight minutes later the same Drudru was brought down inside the penalty box by AS Vénus’ goalkeeper Teave Teamotuaitau – a penalty was awarded for the Fijian side. The Solomon Islands international Benjamin Totori saw his shot saved by the keeper, but in the rebound the veteran put the ball in the nets. 2-0 ahead for the Fijian champions.
Totori (17) celebrates his goal – Christophe Fotozz
AS Vénus was helpless in the first ten minutes, but started to bounce back slowly to the game. The comeback started when the full back Tefai Faehau made an excellent run in the left and found the captain Teaonui ‘Filou‘ Tehau free in the middle of the box to score the first for the home side. Seven minutes later, a perfect delivery from the Frenchman Yann Pennequin Le-Bras in a free-kick found the head of Kevin Barbe to put the ball in Beniamino Mateinaqara’s nets. The game was leveled again at the 36th minute of play.
But AS Vénus would have still time to pursue another goal to complete the comeback – and it came in a very bizarre way: a good setup play of the Tahitian side was going to be cleared up by Ba defense, Filou tried to block the shot – the captain succesfully blocked the clearance and the ball incredibly went to the nets of the Fijian side. AS Vénus went ahead in the scoreline still before half time.
AS Vénus players celebrate – Christophe Fotozz
In the second half, Teaonui Tehau completed his hattrick with an easy finish with his head in front of the goal to score the fourth of his team and put Vénus with two goals upfront in the scoreline.
The Fijians had good chances to reduce the margin through the likes of Samuela Drudru and Benjamin Totori. Vénus was also very dangerous with its captain Filou and the prolific Tamatoa Tetauira, but the scoreboard remained untouched until the final whistle.
In the final moments of the encounter, Ba was recuded to nine players in a two-minute period: Laisenia Naioko received a direct red after a brawl close to the corner flag and Sanaila Waqacanikau received his second yellow and was also sent off two minutes later the captain Naioko.
Ba goes back to Fiji with 0 points in the competition in one of the worst participations ever in an edition of OFC Champions League, while the Tahitian champions proceeds in style and expect to make their life longer through the knock-out stage of the regional competition.
Auckland City confirmed their favouritism against the Samoan side of Lupe o le Soaga and seal their spot as OFC Champions League – Group D winners in the knock-out stage. The New Zealand will host one of the quarterfinals of the regional tournament.
Despite their third win in three games, it was expected Auckland City to win by a bigger margin than only 2-0 against a team coming from the preliminary stage.
The Navy Blues just went upfront at the 30th minute of play when the Ni-Vanuatu defender Brian Kaltak tapped-in a great corner after an excellent setup play by the New Zealand side.
Auckland City celebrate their goal – Christophe Fotozz
Lupe managed to have a significant share of possession of the ball and could put some pressure upfront on Auckland – crossing some balls to area and with some longs good shots specially from the youngster Jarvis Filimalae.
Auckland would take long to score again, only at the 68th through the efforts of Dylan Manickum with a very good finish after a mistake of Lupe’s goalkeeper Zane Green.
The New Zealand-based side managed to create some trouble to the Samoan defense with his good passing combinations and the pace of players as Logan Rogerson, but the Navy Blues could not find the back of the net again. Lupe also had their moments in the second half, the two-New Zealand attackers Jamie Mason and Tom Mosquera combined well in some opportunities and in one of those Mosquera forced Cameron Brown to a decent save to avoid a goal that would be historical for Lupe o le Soaga.
Lupe o le Soaga reduced Auckland to an only 2-0 defeat; this was the second time a team from New Zealand scored only two goals in a Samoan side – Waitakere United won Kiwi by 2-0 in the 2014 edition of OFC Champions League. Both matches are tied up as the best result ever of a Samoan team against a New Zealand side. Another huge milestone for Lupe in their campaign – that comes to and end now – in the regional tournament.
Auckland could have done better, but they really did not wanted to waste so much energy in this match. Their 2-0 win seemed to be what the team expected from this clash – ending winning all matches in the process and going through the group without any problems.
Ba definitively not impress in their campaign at OFC Champions League 2020; the Fijian champions were beaten by Auckland City by 6-0 and shocked the entire Oceania football community when they lost by 4-3 against the Samoan side Lupe o le Soaga. This is, for sure, one of the worst appearances of the Men in Black in the regional tournament – but they have one last chance to change this terrible campaign.
To proceed to the knock-out stage is something virtually impossible for Ba: the team coached by Ricki Herbert will need to beat AS Vénus at Stade de Mahina by a 6-goal margin win. If they can do so, they can proceed to the quarterfinals as the 2nd placed side of the group D with only one win in the process.
The bad performances of Ba made their fans very upset in Fiji and the club will certainly need changes if they still want to compete at Vodafone Premier League for the title.
Mateinaqara suffers the first goal of Lupe o le Soaga – Christophe Fotozz
The Tahitians of AS Vénus come in a very comfortable situation for their last match: even a 5-0 defeat would still make them pass as the 2nd placed team in the pool – but the Tahitians will certainly want to beat Ba. The team coached by Samuel Garcia count on the likes of Tauhiti Keck, Tamatoa Tetauira and the captain Teaonui ‘Filou’ Tehau upfront and they can cause major problems for the fragile Fijian defense that already conceced 10 goals in the tournament so far.
Defensively, the New Caledonian international Pothin Poma and Kevin Barbe worked really well against Auckland City and suffered just one goal of the New Zealand powerhouse. The likes of Benjamin Totori and Samuela Drudru will have to work if they want to change the mind of their fans agains the good defensive system of AS Vénus.
AS Vénus will count on their supporters to beat Ba – Christophe Fotozz
The Tahitians will certainly expect a win against a fragile Ba at this moment of the competition. The Fijians will certainly want to perform much better than in their previous two matches in process, specially in the shocking defeat against Lupe o le Soaga.
The Men in Black may know their possibilities to advance in the competition are close to zero, but they have a lot of pride to defend against the very good team from Tahiti if they want to come with their heads high back to their district.
The Men in Black were lost in the pitch against Lupe – Christophe Fotozz
The Fijian outfit is the current champions of their top-division league back in their country – as AS Vénus also is in Tahiti – and they have more than only their names to defend at OFC Champions League, but also the pride of Fijian football as whole as the both sides from the country did not make any good in the tournament at 2020 edition of the most important club football tournament of the region.
The nine-time champions Auckland City is set to take on the little but brave Lupe o le Soaga from Samoa. The New Zealand powerhouse just need a draw to confirm their place in the knock-out stage once again while the Samoans will have to make history one more time and beat Auckland to have a chance to seal their fate and proceed to the quarterfinals.
Lupe o le Soaga will be the “David” of this story, needing to beat the giant Auckland City to shock Oceania and, depending on AS Venus vs Ba result, for the first time advance to the knock-out stage. The Samoans lost their first game in the process by 6-0 against AS Vénus from Tahiti, but grabbed a major upset against the Fijian outfit Ba after putting them down in the first half by 4-0. Despite the Men in Black efforts, the three goals scored in the second half were not enough to stop Lupe to make history: this was their first ever victory at OFC Champions League group stage, also the first ever club from Samoa to win at this stage of the tournament.
Lupe o le Soaga was the first team from Samoa to win at group stage – OFC Media
Lupe will need to be very careful defensively, specially with the likes of Clayton Lewis, Logan Rogerson, Myer Bevan and Emiliano Tade – players that can cause a lot of problems for the defensive system by the team captain of Lupe Andrew Setefano.
The team coached by José Figueira will want to seal their campaign at group stage with a strong performance to finish the pool with three victories in three matches played.
To confirm their perfect campaign, the Navy Blues will expect to have a better performance than in their 1-0 victory over the hosts AS Vénus. To assure their form, Figueira and his players will need to face a lively Lupe o le Soaga side, coming from their best moment in the competition – certainly the Samoans will battle hard to make the life of the New Zealand powerhouse hard at Stade de Mahina.
Auckland City celebrate their winning goal over AS Vénus – Christophe Fotozz
The well-know story of David and Goliath shown that the minnows can beat stronger opponents – specially in football, a game that allows the possibility of a weaker techinical side to beat a better prepared team. Lupe will hold on their strong performance againt Ba and in this belief to go ahead against the best team at OFC Champions League, expecting for another miracle in Tahiti.
There are excellent news for Hekari United fans: the Papua New Guinea international Wira Wama is back to Papua New Guinea and he is the first confirmed move for Hekari United in the PNG National Soccer League transfer window. The 30-year-old is back to Hekari United to reinforce the team coached by Jerry Allen in the second round of the national league – competition that Hekari is currently at the top of the standings.
The midfielder already represented three times Papua New Guinea internationally and he was part of the squad that in 2016 ended as runners-up in the OFC Nations Cup held in Port Moresby. Since then the player left the country to study in United States – he also played in the well-known college football system of United States for the MBU Sabercats – team of his university, the Maranatha Baptist University.
Wira Wama playing for Hekari United – OFC Media
The midfielder last appeared for Hekari United in 2016 season, when the club also took part of the OFC Champions League. 2020 marked the comeback of the Port Moresby-based side to the regional tournament and will also be the year Wama is back to Papua New Guinean football after four years in United States.
It is known the player finished his studies in the North American country and now he is back to his home nation and is set to represent his former club in their upcoming challenges in the season.
On the weekend in which the most anticipated clash of the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League season between eight-time champions Hekari United and five-time reigning champions Lae City took place, the real winners of the weekend were third-placed Vitiaz United, who closed the gap on the top two with a win against Morobe Wawens while Hekari and Lae were unable to be separated.
The match of the day between Lae City and Hekari United took place at 3pm at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae, and the stadium was packed to the rafters for the third and final game of the day.
Lae City’s starting XI against Hekari United. Photo: Lae City FC
The two sides were evenly matched throughout, with Hekari taking after around 20 minutes after Brazilian import Vinicius converted a spot kick, with his effort hitting the bottom of the crossbar before dipping past the goal-line. Hekari held on to their narrow lead until half-time, but chances to score for both sides were few and far between, with the wet conditions in Lae affecting both sides’ ability to skilfully play the ball.
In the second half, Emmanuel Simon levelled up the scores ten minutes into the second half with his sixth goal of the season, also from the penalty spot. However, Lae’s chances of holding onto a draw were dealt a blow shortly afterwards when Emmanuel Airem was sent off for a second bookable offence. However, the Lae City defence, which has looked exposed at times this season, tightened up, and that, combined with Hekari’s profligacy in front of goal, meant the two sides went home with a spare of the spoils.
The draw means that Vitiaz United, who remain third, have closed the gap between themselves and the top two after a narrow 1-0 victory away in Lae against Morobe Wawens. Wawens, who had lost three matches in a row without scoring before this game, took high-flying Vitiaz by surprise in the first half with their attacking, possession-dominating football, but they were unable to make the most of their excellent first-half spell. With the game seemingly ebbing out into a draw, Vitiaz’ Joshua Talau scored the decisive goal against the run of play in the second half, giving Vitiaz a vital victory and keeping the pressure on the league leaders.
Just one point separates the top three in the PNG NSL. OFCe Graphic.
With the season half-finished now, Hekari United retain their lead at the top by just a single point after going unbeaten in the opening half of the season, drawing two games, against main rivals Vitiaz and Lae. Lae are second, ahead of Vitiaz on goal difference despite losing 2-1 to the debutants in February, while Vitiaz are third, with their only defeat having come against FC Bougainville.
In the early kick-off in Lae, visiting Tusbab Stallions were unable to make the breakthrough against draw-specialists Morobe United, securing a 0-0 draw which is semi-useful for both sides. Stallions go into the second half of the season comfortably in a playoff spot but six points from any sort of continental qualification, while Morobe United have lost just one of their last five games, a springboard to what could be a decent second half of the season for them.
Gulf Komara (black) took on FC Kutubu (yellow) in Port Moresby on Saturday. Photo: Soka Citi Images
Focus was away from the capital Port Moresby this weekend, as the most important games took place in Lae. However, there was still some significant action taking place: Tau Winnie scored his first goal of the season for Star Mountain against FC Bougainville, but the side were unable to hold on to their lead, as Arneil Passam equalised for the hosts in the second half, giving both sides a point. In the 3pm kick-off, Gulf Komara pulled away from the bottom four with a comfortable 2-0 victory against visiting FC Kutubu, with Kila Gapi and Numa Kila scoring the goals for the home side.
Results
Morobe United 0-0 Tusbab Stallions Morobe Wawens 0-1 Vitiaz United FC Bougainville 1-1 Star Mountain Lae City 1-1 Hekari United Gulf Komara 2-0 FC Kutubu
The Women’s Inter-District Championship is about to reach its end. The final episode of this edition are going to take place tomorrow at Churchill Park when Ba and Labasa will be fighting for the trophy once again.
In the semifinals Ba won Nadroga by 3-0 led by Koleta Likuculacula that scored twice in the second half while Labasa had to fight hard to beat Rewa in the shootout after a 2-2 draw in the regular time.
Labasa (left) and Ba (right) will fight for the IDC’s title. Source: Fiji FA Media
Labasa will be fighting to win the IDC for the second straight year while Ba wants to take revenge for what happened in the last edition. The final clash is scheduled to begin at 12:30.
The group stage of SIPA Futsal League is over and the semifinalists are already known! Current OFC Futsal Champions League winners Kooline FC finished the Group A in the first position while Mataks led the Group B.
KF Gold Futsal and Marist FC are also qualified for the knockout stage. You can check the group stage standings by clicking here.
Kooline (blue) and KF Gold (red) qualified for semifinals. Source: SIPA Media
The semi-finals will be contested on Wednesday at Multi-Purpose Hall in Honiara. Oceania Football Center wishes good luck to all participants.
