The 2019-20 UEFA Champions League will resume this month with the beginning of the knockout stage. All sixteen remaining teams are allowed to make some changes in their 25-man squad.
New Zealand international Sapreet Singh remains in the Bayern’s squad for the knockout stage. Die Roten has made only one change by removing forward Jann-Fiete Arp to place right back Álvaro Odriozola in the squad.
Barrie Limoki is one of the most promising footballers from Solomon Islands. Despite being only 15 years old he has some huge experience for his age. His evolution is something thunderous as he started playing 11-a-side football only in 2017 – “I started to play football when I was seven years old. However I had my first experience playing 11-a-side football at 13,” said Limoki.
Born in 2004, Limoki did not take part of the Solomon Islands U16 squad that reached the 2018 OFC U16 Championship final against New Zealand. His glowing talent came out when he helped Western Tomoko to win the 2019 Youth Solomon Cup and he won the Golden Ball Award in the tournament that was held in July – “I was selected for the National Team after my team competed in Youth Solomon Cup and I won the Best Player of the Tournament trophy.” he stated. After his good performance in the Youth Cup he signed with Kossa, one of the most important football teams in the country.
Limoki (left) receiving the Golden Ball Trophy. Source: SIFF Media
His age was not a problem to become part of the Solomon Islands U17 National Team squad. Limoki was one of the 21 players selected to represent the country in the 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup held in Brazil. He was one of the two players born in 2004 – the other one was Pateson Tongaka.
Limoki stood in the bench in the debut against Italy but the head coach Stanley Waita gave him an opportunity and he was named for Solomon Islands’ starting eleven against Paraguay and against Mexico. He did not have many chances to show his talent in the World Cup as his national team did not have many offensive moments in the championship. However he points that he has learned positive things during the tournament – “I experienced new things in football there like how to live in football and how to play […] I learned a lot on communicating and sharing with teammates,” he pointed.
Barrie Limoki (in yellow) playing against Mexico in the U17 FIFA World Cup. Source: FIFA Media
Limoki and his teammates were exposed to a football level that they have never faced before and the final results of all three matches in the World Cup make it clear. However they were well received in their return to Solomon Islands with many people saying words of encouragement to them.
Now that they could see how is the world outside Oceania, they can see what they need to do in order to improve and reduce the gap between Oceania and the rest of the world – “We should go outside to have more exposure to improve our skills,” pointed the 15-year-old forward.
After the world cup, he returned to Kossa to play the remaining matches of 2019-20 Telekom S-League. He finished the season with seven goals scored in fourteen matches, an impressive number for someone that has not turned 16 yet. He already proved that he can play in a high level at his homeland and he might be ready to play abroad soon just like his idol Benjamin Totori did – “I started to think big after playing with experienced players like Benjamin Totori […] I want to play overseas so I need to maintain my fitness and my standard in football,” he said.
Totori left the country very young to play in New Zealand and Limoki has some U17 team mates that already moved to study and play there like Charles Mani. Raphael Lea’i and Leon Kofana also played at New Zealand in 2019 but they are not coming back this year because they decided to stay with Henderson Eels for 2020 OFC Champions League.
Limoki is surely a talent to watch closely and it would not be a surprise if he manage to become an important player for the Solomon Islands National Football Team in a few years.
Ni-Vanuatu referee Jeremy Garae had another international opportunity to show his quality as a linesman. He took part of the referees team that worked at Al-Feiha versus Al-Faisaly match in the sixteenth matchweek of Saudi Professional League, the top division of Association football league in Saudi Arabia. The match was played last Saturday (February 1st) and Al-Feiha won by 2-1.
Garae (first from left to right) before the match
New Zealand referees Nick Waldrom and Isaac Trevis also worked in this match. The refereeing trio from Oceania is being called for overseas matches constantly. They were also match officials in the FIFA U17 World Cup held in Brazil last year.
Oceania Football Center investigated and learned that Clark recently received support from Vanuatu Football Federation – a good move from VFF – to help the midfielder to get the Ni-Vanuatu citizenship, being so able to play for Vanuatu in their upcoming fixtures.
Jared Clark (with the ball) playing for Adelaide United youth side
Clark received a letter of support from VFF, something valuable that can be used by him in his process to obtain nationality. This letter can make the process be faster – depending on when he will be available for the national team, he can defend Vanuatu in the upcoming 2020 OFC Nations Cup to be held in New Zealand next June.
After the announcement of the postponement of their next match in the Vodafone Premier League in Fiji, Ba is reported to be travelling soon to New Zealand for a camp in order to prepare for the upcoming OFC Champions League that is set to start in March for the Fijian powerhouse. “This has been confirmed by Fiji Football Association CEO, Mohammed Yusuf who says the teams will play their VPL matches after April“, according to Fijivillage.
Ba squad before CVC clash – FFA Media
Ba already arranged their accomodation in New Zealand, but they are still waiting all documents to be ready in order to travel. Ricki Herbert, that signed recently for Ba to coach then during the OFC Champions League this season, will be certainly one of the responsibles to arrange this good chance for his team to prepare in a place with better football facilities.
Nasinu are set to reinforce their squad for the new season of Vodafone Premier League with thee imports coming from Solomon Islands. The most important player of the trio is Atkin Kaua, that recently had a stint of trials in European football. The 23-year-old player is set to touch down Fiji this week to sign for the VPL side.
The other two players signed for Nasinu are already in Fiji; they are Jared Rongosulia and Marlon Nonone. “We are pleased to have secured these three Solomon imports to add more strength to our team after the departure of some of our key players from last season” O’Neal Chand said, Nasinu president, to FFA Media.
The three new signigns of Nasinu – FFA Media
Rongosulia played alongisde Atkin Kaua in the previous season of Telekom S-League back in their homeland for Laugu United. Rongosulia also represent his national team in OFC U20 Championship and 2015 Pacific Games.
Marlon Nonone, that already debut for Nasinu, was in the Solomon U20 squad in 2017 and played for Isabel United in the Solomon Islands top-tier S-League previous season.
Atkin Kaua (green) playing for Solomon Islands
Kaua is a top-addition for Nasinu side that seems very ambitious to sign a player of his caliber. The player already scored five times for his national team, debuting in 2016 and already appearing 22 times for the Bonitos. Both Nonone and Rongosulia also add quality in the final third for Nasinu, having a good experience at age groups of their national teams.
The trio will be already available for the upcoming clash of Nasinu against Rewa this weekend for the 2nd round of Vodafone Premier League, according to FFA.
After a short stint at Tulsa Roughnecks, playing in the United Soccer League in United States, the Fijian international Nicholas Prasad is back to European football. Prasad that recently stated that is grateful to represent Fiji internationaly, already played in Europe before is back to the same country he played previously: Germany. The player will defend Bischofswerda that is currently playing in the 4th tier of football in the European country.
The central defender represented Fiji in the latest edition of the Pacific Games, played in Samoa. The player that born in Canada was introduced to Fijian Football Association by former head coach Christophe Gamel and might keep under the radar of the new head coach Flemming Serritslev. Oceania Football Center will follow Prasad steps in his career in Germany and keep his development updated to Oceania football fans.
New Caledonia international Jean-Philippe Saïko is playing his first ever season in New Zealand after spending some years in France. He did not have a great start as he scored only one goal in his five matches in 2019-20 ISPS Handa Premiership.
However things have changed for Saïko in 2020 as he is finding the net every single week. Despite scoring only six goals in the season so far, he is one of the league top scorers in 2020 with five goals. Only Martin Bueno from Eastern Suburbs scored more goals than him in this year as he found the net for seven times in the current year.
Saïko playing for Tasman United against Hamilton Wanderers. Source: NZF Media
More than scoring, Saïko scores important goals. He opened the scoreboard in five matches and Tasman won four of these five games. You can check his goals in the current ISPS Handa Premiership season in the video below:
His good moment matches with Tasman’s grow in the league. After finishing the eighth matchweek in the tenth and last position, the football team based in Nelson won three of their last four meetings to reach the fifth position and join the race for a spot in the finals series, the New Zealand top-tier’s knockout phase.
He has also a good record playing for his national team. He scored eleven goals in nine matches for New Caledonia National Football Team. He might be a serious contender to win 2020 OFC Nations Cup Golden Boot Award if he joins Les Cagous for the tournament that is scheduled to be played in New Zealand in June.
At the starting of the year, the Solomon Islands goalkeeper and member of Solomon Islands national Futsal team Anthony Talo signed for the Papua New Guinea giants Hekari United. It was a very much celebrated signing for the Hekari fans, as a well-known player with good experience in Oceania football was set to represent them in the next edition of the OFC Champions League.
Some questions where raised by media and fans, as which goalkeeper would be the first choice of Hekari United head coach Jerry Allen – the Kapuls member Ishmael Pole or Anthony Talo -, but these questions seem now to be cleared, in a very dramatic way. Where is Anthony Talo?
After this match, Anthony Talo and his countryman Robert Laua departed back to Solomon Islands in order to renew their visas. The proceedings finished, but only the defender Laua returned to Hekari United – already featuring in some matches. Since the departure of Talo, Ishmael Pole was the goalkeeper for Hekari in all matches in the national league.
The Solomon Islands international Micah Lea’alafa haven’t been able to cut through series of challenges in his first season with his club in the South African top flight league. The 28-year-old forward has been released by the top-tier side and is set to depart home soon, as KickOff says.
Lea’alafa played 11 matches for the club not recording any goal or assist. The player suffered a minor injury in his ankle – that is known he is already recovered – and did not feature in none of the last match four matches of the club from South Africa.
Micah Lea’alafa (right) against Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa – KickOff
Lea’alafa reached continental success with New Zealand giants Auckland City, after winning national and regional leagues and representing the club in their last apperance at FIFA Clubs World Cup. This was the first experience of Micah in full-professional club.
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