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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Charles Mani – FIFA
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.
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.
Alwin Komolong
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Vanuatu National Team in 2019
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.
