Oceania Football Center

Phoenix looks to recover from defeat as they face Jets at SkyStadium

Unfortunately for Wellington Phoenix, they could not break their non-losing streak history record in the Hyundai A-League in the last week against Brisbane Roar as they were defeat by 1-0. The team was very unlucky as they hit the woodwork twice in the first half and suffered a heartbreaking goal in the final part of the game.

The Nix will be back to New Zealand this Friday to face Newcaste Jets, the bottom ranked team in the ladder, and they will be certainly looking for a convicing win to boost their confindece for the rest of the league – recovering from an unfortunate 1-0 defeat in the last match.

Image may contain: 2 people, people playing sports and outdoor — Nix was beaten by Roar at SunCorp Stadium – *Phoenix Media*

The good news for Phoenix is the club is still in the same place in the standings even with the loss against Roar. The 4th position – that assures a home playoff-game – is still there for Wellington Phoenix, but if they want to keep the process a win against Newcastle is very important.

The Englishman David Ball might be back to the starting team and possibly the Australian speedster Jaushua Sotirio will make room for the striker. The German midfielder Matti Steinmann will be missing his first game of the season after receiving his 5th yellow card in the previous match – there are still doubts which player will take his place in the game, the most possible option is the new signing Brandon Wilson that will make his debut if he is the chosen one. Steinmann will be the only problem for Ufuk Talay, as Louis Fenton is ruled out of the season and Alex Rufer is still not fully recovered from his knee injury.

The match will be telecasted by SkySports and streamed at MyFootball YouTube channel for foreign supporters.

Vaalii Faalogo: a champion of life

Football has the power to unite crowds, people from different parts of the planet, of different beliefs, thoughts and ethnics. Football is the most popular sport in the world and we can count on many very good examples coming from it; the ultimate goal of Football should be always to inspire and unite people.

A very good example comes from Samoa; the 6-time capped international Vaalii Faalogo has certainly much to teach about life. Vaalii reached significant success in the sport in his home country, playing in OFC Nations Cup in his national team and representing Lupe o le Soaga, his club back in Samoa, in OFC Champions League campaigns. Faalogo captained the club in their last appearance in the competition in 2018.

Image may contain: 1 person — Faalogo with Lupe o le Soaga in 2018 – *OFC Media*

In 2018 was the last time Vaalii played at the regional stage in the OFC Champions League – as the team he captained lost the national league to Kiwi FC which represented Samoa in the 2019 edition of the regional tournament.

Not qualifying for that editions of the OFC Champions League was not the saddest news for Vaalii and his teammates: the defender was diagnosed with cancer. The news shocked the staff and all people involved with Lupe o le Soaga as well all the football community in Samoa.

Vaalii then turned his focus for his treatments. As before, when he was focused to stop the opposition forwards, now he battled to prevent another enemy with the usual power he had when inside the pitch. The Samoan left for New Zealand in order to pursue his goal to avoid the new opponent to win.

After so many tackles inside the football field, Vaalii was there as usual tackling the disease and we can say he achieved the same success he from his experience in the sport. The now 36-year old is recovered and is slowly getting back to action. He took his time, never gave up and shown the spirit of a true warrior.

Vaalii is step-by-step getting back to football; his next goal is to help Lupe o le Soaga to qualify once again for the OFC Champions League group stage from outside the pitch – the former international will be assisting the head coach Paul Ualesi. Lupe will certainly have a big fight to come, but they will have a very good fighter in their side.

The challenge Vaalii and his team will have in Auckland is a very important milestone for the club and Samoan football. But, even without the kick-off of the tournament we can say we already have a champion; a champion of life, a champion that comes from Samoa that has a lot to teach.

Roy Krisha chosen as 2019 Player of the Year by OFCe Awards

Recently, Oceania Football Center released the results of its 1st edition of Oceania Football Center; an annual event that selects the U20 Player of Year, the Goalkeeper of the Year and the Player of the Year awards inside the Oceania football context.

In 2019 the chosen player for the most important award was the Fijian Roy Krishna. Krishna had a fantastic 2018/19 season for Wellington Phoenix in Hyundai A-League in Australia and recently signed for the Indian Super League side ATK, where he already stared the season with very good performances.

Image result for Roy Krishna — Roy Krishna with ATK – *Bhaskar Live*

You can check the full awards of the OFCe event by clicking here.

African duo miss OFC Champions Preliminary Stage due visa delay

The Samoan champions Lupe o le Soaga suffered a huge blow for their campaign in the upcoming Preliminary Stage of OFC Champions League. Recently, It was reported the midfielder Ken Kerewi was back to Lupe after a stint in New Zealand; indeed the player is back to the team, but due visa problems the Nigerian will not take part in the OFC tournament in its first stage.

Oscar Anto (left) and Ken Kerewi (right)

The problems are even bigger for Lupe o le Soaga: the young forward Oscar Anto from Ghana will not be available for the OFC Champions League Prelimary Stage alongisde Kerewi. The player also had problems with his visa for New Zealand – where the competition will take place – and both players will miss the first stage of the regional tournament.

Despite the bad news, the players might be ready for the Group Stage part of the competition, but Lupe will have the task to proceed to the next phase without the services of the African duo.

Lupe o le Soaga football to face Pacific’s best!

2019 was a successful year for local champion Mens football side Lupe o le Soaga. The squad that hails from the proud village of Magiagi were once again crowned Samoa Football Federation champions when the league was halted early due to the recent measles epidemic. Lupe o le Soaga were awarded the championship in late November with a 14 win, 2 loss record. Coach Paul Ualesi said “It was a close fought league this year. Teams like Kiwi FC and Vaipuna put up a good challenge, but our boys experience, dedicated training ethic and team spirit were factors that enabled us to succeed”.

Lupe o le Soaga have now been selected to represent Samoa in the Oceania Football Confederation preliminary stage being held in Auckland, New Zealand from January 25^th-31^st where they will take on the champions from Tonga and the Cook Islands for two spots in the main stage of the OFC tournament held in early March in New Caledonia or Tahiti. Ualesi said “Our goal was to qualify for the initial stages and after that was achieved the boys have been on a strict fitness plan. We have upped the intensity at training so we have the best preparation possible to compete in the Auckland tournament”.

Image may contain: 23 people, people smiling, people standing — Lupe o le Soaga squad before departure to New Zealand – *Lupe o le Soaga Media*

Lupe o le Soaga are no strangers to representing their nation in the OFC main group stages after also qualifying in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Coach Ualesi and his team though aren’t looking too far ahead as they have two obstacles in their way first in Auckland. “We know that Tupapa Maraerenga (Cook Islands) and Veitongo FC (Tonga) are formidable opponents. We respect them 100% and know we must work hard and play as a team on the day to get the results we deserve”. Lupe o le Soaga have a good mix of experience and youth in its squad with captain Andrew Setefano, Vito Laloata, Alapati Bell, Va’a Taualai and Lapalapa Tony leading the way for the younger squad members to look up to.

Lupe o le Soaga Football club is a success story. It prides itself on its accountability, respect and fair-play. Ualsesi says “As a result of our successes we have helped many of our village members, both male and female discover their talents on the football field and given them a path with opportunities to play at both national and international level. We also teach our youth respect and discipline and have worked hard to address violence within the community”.

Looking forward to the tournament though Ualesi said “The hardest part in attending these Oceania tournaments is the financial strain. Although we appreciate the assistance from the Samoa Football Federation and Oceania Football Confederation, we still require funding to give us the best opportunity to progress to the main stage. It is very expensive and our management team have been working hard to organise the funds for our trip”.

By Scott McLeod

Samoan Laloata arrives in Port Moresby to sign for Hekari

The new foreign signing of Hekari United arrived in Port Moresby in order to sign for the local powerhouse Hekari United. The Samoan international Vito Laloata recently defended the colours of Lupe o le Soaga back in his country and comes to add more firepower in Hekari United attack.

Recently, Hekari United announced the additions of four foreigners: two Solomon Islanders and two players from Brazil. The club is looking to reinforce their squad in order to compete at 2020 OFC Champions League.

Image may contain: 2 people, people standing — Vito Laloata (right) with team manager Vonnie Kapi-Natto (left) – *Hekari Media*

The 23-year old player attracted the interest of the Papua New Guinea club after his very good performances for his national team at the last edition of Pacific Games held in Samoa. Laloata scored all goals of Samoa in the tournament (3).

Labasa and Ba to clash in Fijian CVC

Current Vodafone Premier League winner Ba and 2019 Battle of the Giants winner Labasa will face each other in the Champion vs Champion (CVC). The first match is schedule to be played today at 7pm at Churchill Park, Lautoka.

Ba brought some good players in order to strengthen their squad for 2020 OFC Champions League. It is already known that newcomers Samuela Drudru and Beniaminio Mateinaqara are available to debut for Ba.

It seems that Labasa is not going to bring any player in the transfer window. According to local sources, Babasiga Lions head coach Ronil Lal might be count on young players to play the first leg of CVC.

Labasa managed to hold two important players in this transfer window: Siotame Kubu and Antonio Tuivuna. However it is not clear if Tuivuna will be ready to play tonight.

Ba is the biggest champion of CVC winning 20 titles while Labasa won for three times. The first CVC happened in 1992 and Labasa won Ba by 1-0 in the aggregate score. It is going to be the fourth time that both teams will clash to decide the CVC title (1992, 1994 and 2007).

According to Fiji Football Association the winner will receive $5000 Fijian dollars. The second leg will be played on Sunday at Ratu Cakobau Park, Nausori.

New Zealand to field U23 players in OFC Nations Cup

According to a reliable source, New Zealand will send a U23 team to OFC Nations Cup as preparation for 2020 Olympics that will be held in Tokyo between July and August.

All Whites head coach Danny Hay will not coach the team in the Nations Cup as well. Des Buckingham will lead the team in the tournament as he is he U23 head coach. It is going to be a great opportunity to select the 18 players that will play the Olympics.

OFC Nations Cup is set to take place in New Zealand in June.

Fijian football walks towards professionalism

Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Lambert Maltock said in an exclusive interview with Oceania Football Center that football in OFC region must initiate a professional football platform in 2021.

According to Fiji Football Association (FFA) CEO Mohammed Yusuf, the country’s first professional men’s football league must start next year – “We are getting help from experts running the A-League (Australia’s highest level of professional football league) and also FIFA is backing us on this,” he said.

The professional tournament would not kill Vodafone Premier League. Yusuf said that there will be a franchise competition that must start in November 2021. The first edition of the new league must be contested by six teams: three from the West, two from the South and one from the North.

Yusuf pointed that there will be a tender for business companies around the country who are interested to own one of the teams are going to take total ownership of their clubs. The company can put their logos on the jersey and other sporting kits as they are the owners.

The matches must be contested on Wednesdays and Saturadays. All matches are supposed to be telecasted on TV. The top two teams must qualify for Oceania Champions League.

SIFF looks for a head coach

Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) is looking for a new head coach for Solomon Islands National Football Team. The position is vacant since Dutch manager Wim Rijsbergen left the charge after the 2019 Pacific Games.

A new head coach must be appointed soon to lead the team in the Tri-Nation series in March and the OFC Nations Cup in June. However there is a possibility of SIFF name a caretaker.