Oceania Football Center wrote an article about Terry Stephenson that called the attention of local people. The 18 years old player was born in Lae, Papua New Guinea. The repercussion of this article was so big that it reached Papua New Guinea Football Association.
The contact made by PNG Football Association was successful. However he pointed that he would not take the final decision by now – “I am still young and still developing my career […] I am only 18 and it would be very hard for me to make a decision as of yet.” stated Stephenson.
Stephenson currently holds an English passport as he has been living in England for many years. He already took part of English National camps at U15 level and he would like to wait some seasons to decide if he will play for PNG or not. A football player can only change the nationality of his passport once so if he decides to apply for a Papua New Guinean passport he could not get the English one again to represent England according to FIFA rules – “I would like to see in maybe a few seasons where my career has taken me and whether I want to play for England or Papua New Guinea” he explained.
A similar case happened to Adrian Mariappa: he was born in England but his father is Fijian and his mother is from Jamaica. Mariappa had an English passport and he could change its nationality so he decided to apply for a Jamaican passport. He could have chosen to apply for the Fijian passport in order to represent Fiji National Football Team but he preferred to represent Jamaica.
It means that we are not going to see Stephenson playing for Papua New Guinea in the 2020 OFC Nations Cup. However if he does not play an official match for England National Football Team at senior level he can apply for a Papua New Guinean passport and it would not be something difficult to him because he was born in PNG.
Chris Wood is one of the most important football players from New Zealand. The 28 years old striker is a key player for Burnley FC in the English Premier League and he is living one of the best moments of his career.
Wood had a great performance in Burnley’s 2-0 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford. He opened the scoreboard in the first half and he delievered an assist to Jay Rodriguez score Burnley’s second goal to seal the away win. You can check the highlights by clicking here.
The All Whites striker scored ten goals in the 2019-20 Premier League so far. There are some important numbers that must be pointed about him: -It is the third straight season that Wood scores 10 goals in the Premier League; -He scored five goals with his head in the season. No one scored more headers than him in the Top 5 european leagues this season (English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, French Ligue 1, Italian Serie A and German Bundesliga); -Wood scored 14 headers in the Premier Leauge since 2017. Nobody scored more headers than him in the league during this period of time.
Burnley’s game plan is very suitable for Wood and he does his job really well. The New Zealander is a very important player for The Clarets and his goals are being decisive in order to save the team from relegation.
Solomon Islands international Atkin Kaua’s trial with Maltese club Tarxien Rainbows is over. According to Netherlands Oceania Support Foundation’s president Paul Driessen, Kaua started training with Mqabba FC squad on Monday.
Atkin Kaua
Mqabba’s head coach regards Atkin Kaua as a very agile player and he now has a big opportunity to impress the coach and get a professional contract. Kaua and Mqabba will play a friendly match against Marsaxlokk FC on Thursday. The final decision must be taken by the team’s office on Friday.
The Maltese transfer window closes on January 31. Oceania Football Center wish good luck to the player.
The year of 2019 was huge for Oceania football: we had players signing their first professional contracts overseas, a first-time winner of OFC Champions League and also the qualifiers for Tokyo Olympics. Many other important facts happened in the year, many players were put under the spotlights and Oceania Football Center inaugurate the OFCe Awards – the best players chosen throught the year by the Oceania Football Center team and guests.
U20 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The players chosen to contest to open vote among Oceania Football Center team and guests were:
The New Zealand international Sarpreet Singh was chosen the OFCe U20 Player of the Year. The young midfielder made a dream move to the German outfit Bayern Munich, after a stellar season for Wellington Phoenix in A-League. The player also featured in a very good campaign of New Zealand in the U20 FIFA World Cup held in Poland, where New Zealand were knocked-out in the Round of 16.
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
The players chosen to contest to open vote among Oceania Football Center team and guests were:
🇳🇨 Rocky Niykeine (41,6%) * 🥇 🇳🇿 Stefan Marinovic (41,6%) 🥈 🇳🇿 Michael Woud (16,8%) 🥉
Rocky Nyikeine was chosen as the OFCe Goalkeeper of the Year. The New Caledonian international tied-up with the New Zealand player Stefan Marinovic, but in tie-break vote among the Oceania Football Center directors Nyikene was chosen.
The New Caledonian helped Hienghène Sport to grant their first ever OFC Champions League title and also won the Coupe de Calédonie and the Mobil Super Ligue in New Caledonia. Nyikeine made impressive stops all over the season, especially in the FIFA Clubs World Cup in a match against the Qatari national champions Al-Sadd.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The players chosen to contest to open vote among Oceania Football Center team and guests were:
🇫🇯 Roy Krishna (37,5%) 🥇 🇳🇿 Sarpreet Singh (22,2%) 🥈 🇳🇨 Antoine Amy Roine (15,2%) 🥉 🇳🇿 Chris Wood (13,8%) 🇳🇨 Bertrand Kaï (11,3%)
The Fijian international Roy Krishna was chosen as the OFCe Best player of the Year. Krishna made a fantastic 2019 for Wellington Phoenix, helping the club to be back to the A-League playoffs by scoring 18 goals in the A-League regular season and one in the Playoff round. He was the top goalscorer of the season in the league and also awarded the best player in the league in the 2018/19 season.
Krishna also helped Fiji to earn bronze in the Pacific Games 2019 held in Samoa before joining his new club in the Indian Super Ligue ATK. Roy finished 2019 in style with very good performances in his new club where he already scored eight times.
Singh, Nyikeine and Krishna; the chosen by Oceania Football Center
Oceania Football Center congratulates all players for their hard work and very good football shown and thanks to all people involved that made this awards happen.
This last week-end started the first championship day of the second phase of the Ligue 1 Vini and this time all the matches were played as they were scheduled. The former champion, the AS Venus, was the first team to play in this friday. They won the derby against the Olympique Mahina, which closes the actual ranking. Their victory was very lage, 8-0, thanks also to their famous captain, Teanoui Tehau, who scored 4 goals. Even though OM were well dominated by their opponent, they had a few chances in the first half, but the crossbar didn’t let them pass. The sang-bleus scored their first goal after few minutes that the game started. There was a free-kick just forward the centre-field. Teanoiu Tehau was there waiting for the ball and he scored. Tauhiti Keck scored 3 goals and Ariiura Labaste scored the last one. Yesterday evening the AS Venus won against AS Pirae in a top match of the League 1 Vini. It was a recovery match. They scored 4-0 and they confirmed their leadership at the top of the ranking.
On Saturday was played the much more of the matches. The AS Tiare Tahiti, the second of the ranking, and the AS Pirae, the third of the ranking, both the teams wanted to obtain the 3 points of the victory to stay close to AS Venus. With the two new recruits from Benin, Tiare Tahiti had to bounce back from a heavy defeat against AS Pirae that was coming 2 weeks ago, when they met AS TAC. The objective was obtained by Vatea Terai and its players thanks to two goals, one per half-time, against the players of the Presqu’ile.
The AS Tiare Tahiti
Then the AS Pirare played against Manu Ura. The game was tougher than all thougt. The AS Pirae won only for 1-0. If Pirae has the best attack in the championship with 41 goals scored in six games, AS Manu Ura has shown no fear. Pirae had to wait until the second half to score his only goal, thanks to Heirauarii Salem just before playtime.
AS Pirae vs Manu Ura (source FTF)
On Sunday, the last matches of this first day started with an AS Dragon victory against AS Central Sport. The two teams have new recruits in their workforce, Central with players from Canada, Dragon with Caledonians and the locals. But it was a veteran who made the difference. At the 19th minute the opening goal was scored by Roonui Tehau . Denji Kaiha, a former OM striker, scored for his new club in the 39th minute. Dragon had the opportunity to lead at the break, but the penalty kick taken by Raiamanu Tetauira was stopped by new Central goalkeeper, the canadian William Vandal. Entering the game at half-time, Caledonian Allan Hnyeikone scored a goal by the hour. AS Central Sport came back five minutes later when Jess Horoi scored a penalty. Gabriel Vakoume, who made himself indispensable to the Dragon defense center, received a second yellow card late in the game when he stopped the ball with his hand. Unfortunately for coach Frank Mathieu, AS Central could not benefit from the advantage and Dragon wins the game with 3 goals to 1.
Vandal stopping the penalty kick (source FTF)
The last match of the day was a crazy one between AS Jeunes Tahitien and AS Tefana, two teams desperate to climb the rankings. AS JT was completely effective in the first half, so they scored the first with a free kick and a penalty kick by William Voirin. AS Tefana responded after each goal with a double from Benoit Mathon. But to close to the first period, Yann Vivi looked for his own double and JT led 4-2. In the second period, Faa’a’s Greens and Yellows reduced the mark with their new recruit Jim Ouka with a nice long shot. A few seconds before the end, Tehauarii Holozet put an end to JT’s hope with a nice goal in equalizer in overtime. So a the end the game was a tie, 4-4.
2019 c’est achevé pour le meilleur et pour le pire, pour la nouvelle année les compétitions de l’Oceania Football Confédération (OFC) vont reprendre de plus belle, et quoi de mieux que de commencer l’année avec la compétition la plus prestigieuse d’Océanie; la O’league. 2020 risque de nous apporter quelques surprises, en effet, plusieurs clubs se sont renforcé en allant faire leurs emplettes en Amérique du Sud ou en Afrique. Si cela a était le cas de bien des clubs, d’autres ont fait le choix de recruter localement, au sein de leurs pays et sur le continent Océanien, pourquoi pas? En 2019 le parcours en O’league du Ba FC, de Hienghène sport et l’As Magenta ont démontré la qualité des joueurs locaux. Les fans de football se rappelleront certainement du parcours de ces deux clubs Néo- Calédonien qui se sont hissé en final de la plus prestigieuse compétition d’Océanie en 2019, ou Hienghène fut couronné sur le toit de l’Océanie, une première dans toute l’histoire de la compétition, on ne le soulignera pas assez, que sur les 22 acteurs qui ont participé à la finale de la O’league tous étaient Kanak. Comme quoi l’Océanie à un vivier inépuisable de footballeurs au potentiel énorme, encore faut il avoir l’œil pour les repérer; Roy KRISHNA, Brian KALTACK, Tommy SEMMY, Dylan MANICKUM, Micah LEA’ALAFA, Roonui TEHAU ou Bertrand KAÏ pour ne citer qu’eux. Ces athlètes sont d’excellent produit du football Océanien. Pour 2020 la Ligue des Champions nous réservera peut être de belles surprises qui sait?
Bien heureux qui saura le nom du vainqueur de la O’league 2020, un exercice très compliqué. Afin de vous aidez à voir plus claire la rédaction d’Océania football center vous propose a compté d’aujourd’hui un article posté sur notre blog. Un article qui informera nos lecteurs sur l’évolution de la compétition et de ce qui s’y passe au sein des groupes. Chaque Jeudi, nous publierons sur notre blog un article qui traitera d’un groupe –(Tableau des groupes).
Ainsi semaine après semaine vous pourrez avoir un aperçu des forces en présence dans chaque groupes et suivre leurs évolution jusqu’au sacre final.
En parlant du sacre final, quel sera la récompense du vainqueur de la O’league 2020?
Le vainqueur de la ligue des champions d’Océanie 2020 n’aura pas une seule récompense mais plusieurs, voyez-vous-même:
Un trophée que le champion gardera un an;
Ainsi qu’une somme comprise entre 100 000 dollars US et 500 000 dollars US;
Et enfin, en tant que champion des clubs d”Oceanie il représentera l’Océanie Football Confédération (OFC) aux barrages de la coupe du monde des clubs (ancienne version).
L’acte 1
Mais avant de nous intéressée aux phases de poule de la O’league, je vous invite à jeter un coups d’oeil au tour préliminaire de la O’league 2020. Une étape des préliminaires qui débutera le 25/01/2020 à la réserve de Ngahue, Auckland en Nouvelle-Zélande. Une décision prise par l’OFC de délocaliser le tournois suite à l’épidémie de rougeole qui sévie sur certaines île du Pacifique. C’est dans un contexte de contagion que le champion 2019 des Samoa Américaines Pago Youth a décidé de se retirer de la compétition, réduisant ainsi le nombre des participants à 3 Clubs au lieux de 4 Clubs habituel:
Veitongo FC (Tonga)
Lupe o le Soaga (Samoa)
Tupapa Maraerenga (île Cook)
Océania Football Center profite de l’occasion pour saluer le courage, la motivation de ces footballeurs dont les pays sont atteint par une épidémie de rougeole!
Passant sans attendre à la description des trois candidats pour les deux places de la phase de groupe de la O’league.
Veitongo FC :
OFC Media
Veitongo FC est une équipe qui est habitué aux joutes des phases de qualification de la O’league, très technique, toutefois dribbleur. Malgré un bon niveau de jeu, de belle prestation lors du précédents tournois qualificatif pour la phase de poule en 2018, Le Veitongo n’a jamais passé la phase des préliminaires. Jusqu’à présent aucune équipe Tongienne n’a réussi à s’extirpé des phases préliminaires. Nous supposons que la team viendra surement avec les meilleurs éléments du royaume des Tonga. Cela nous donnera l’occasion de voir le jeune Vai LUTU jeune milieux de terrain qui évoluera certainement dans cette équipe. Espérant que cette fois-ci que Veitongo FC puisse se qualifier pour les phases de poule et devienne par la même occasion le premier club des Tonga à se qualifier à l’étape 2 de la O’league. Une entreprise qui ne sera pas de tout repos car pour leur premier match les joueurs des Tonga rencontreront un autre habitué des phases préliminaires, le champion des Samoa, Lupé olé Soaga.
Lupe o le Soaga
FFS Media
Après une absence au tour préliminaire à la précédente O’league 2019. Lupé olé Soaga est de retour en 2020 motivé plus que jamais et on les comprend. L’équipe coaché par Paul UALESI c’est vu attribué le titre de vainqueur de la premiership Samoan avant la fin du championnat, pour cause d’épidémie de rougeole. Une épidémie qui sévie actuellement au Samoa. Malgré l’épidémie de Rougeole qui endeuille leur pays, l’équipe de Lupé olé Soaga ne s’est pas retirée de la compétition et compte bien apporter un peu de sourire a ce peuple Samoan endeuillé. Cela ont dit long sur la motivation du club à jouer la O’league, une motivation supplémentaire qui pourrait faire merveille et surprendre plus d’un, Pour cela l’équipe pourra compter sur des joueurs d’expérience, ainsi que sur une bonne préparation physique et tactique. l’année dernière lupé olé soaga ne c’était pas qualifié pour les préliminaires qui ont eu lieu aux îles Cook. Les Samoa ont étaient représenté par Kiwi FC. Ce dernier à réussi à se qualifier pour les phases de poules avec Tupapa maraenrega le représentant des îles Cook.
Tupapa Maraenrega
OFC Media
2019 à était une très bonne année pour les noirs et blancs de Tupapa, l’équipe débuta l”année 2019 avec une première place au tours préliminaire de la O’league. Elle disposa ainsi du champion des Samoa américaines, de celui des Samoa et vient à bout du champion des Tonga. Malheureusement le champion des îles Cook n’arrivera pas a s’extirpé de la phase de groupe ou ils rencontreront le demi finaliste de la O’league Auckland City et le finaliste l’As Magenta. Après leurs péripéties en ligue des champions d’Océanie, les voilà de retour en championnat, ces derniers vont se battre jusqu’à la fin du championnat avec le club de Nikao Sokattak pour le titre. Ils sortent vainqueur de la Vans Premiership, le championnat des îles Cook et vont remporter à la fin de saison 2019 la coupe de la CIFA, une année exceptionnelle pour Tupapa. Il faudra compter sur eux pour défendre les couleurs des îles Cook dans cette compétition.
À trois les choses deviennent plus compliqué attention au faux pas! Autant dire que chaque match sera joué comme une finale.
Le Programme Des Matchs
Océania Football Center souhaite le meilleurs aux trois clubs qui s’affronteront dans les quelques jours à venir pour deux places en phase de poule de la O’league.
Jeudi prochain nous nous intéresserons au Groupe A :
The Fiji international central defender Laisenia Naioko Raura is already in trainings with his new team Ba FC, fact that proves Raura joined Ba after various romours during the week.
The 29-year old player already captained Fiji in recent friendly matches played the Bula Boys and his last club was Suva. Raura already represented Fiji intentionally 22 times making his debut in 2015.
The football clubs from Vanuatu already can go to the market to reinforce their squads! Recently Vanuatu Sport stated that the transfer window in Vanuatu opened in 15th January, according to VFF Competition Manager Batick Bong Shem.
The clubs especially from Port Vila Premier League will be looking to add new players to their squad to challenge the strong Galaxy FC and also the traditionals Tafea and Ifira BB who are currently topping the league in the Vanuatu capital.
Batick Bong Shem also mentioned to Vanuatu Sport that the transfer window in the country will finish in 12th February – still alowing plenty of the time for all clubs in Vanuatu to proceed with their transfers.
The reason for the delay is the club needed to free-up a spot for international player. They took time, but they finally could agree to terms with the Austrian midfielder Kristjian Dobras, who departed the club in order to give the spot for the former Johnny Warren medalist.
Official announcement of the All-Whites member
Rojas had a short stint in Danish top-tier side SønderjyskE where he scored three goals and give two assists in 22 appeareances. The player has plenty of experience in Europe, also playing in Germany, Switzerland and Netherlands top-tiers. Rojas also had a very good period with the Wellington Phoenix and achieved a huge success in Melbourne with the Victory in the past.
The Kiwi Messi is now 28 years old and already played 41 times for the New Zealand national football team scoring five times, being his debut in 2011 in a friendly match against China under the coach Ricki Herbert.
Oceania Football Center interviewed Stephenson in order to clarify if the player was interested to represent the country he was born. After the player mentioned he was eligible for the Kapuls, Papua New Guinea FA contacted Oceania Football Center in order to approach Stephenson.
According to Mr. Khanna, who contacted Oceania Football Center team after the news broke in the media, he said: “I contacted Terry and he has responded well. I have introduced him to our technical team. Our President is happy with the progress – he said Terry will be an asset for Kapuls team“.
Oceania Football Center 