After just playing one match for Hekari United in the PNG National Soccer League, the Solomon Islands goalkeeper Anthony Talo is not part anymore of the Hekari squad. The player departed to Solomon Islands and since then did not fly back to Port Moresby and now local sources confirm the player will not represent the Papua New Guinean powerhose in the OFC Champions League. Oceania Football Center already raised questions about the situation of Talo; now being confirmed the player officially left the current PNG National Soccer League runners-up.
Talo won the golden glove in the previous OFC Futsal Nations Cup – OFC Media
The player departed home after a match against Gulf Komara in the national league, the reason is that him and his countryman Robert Laua needed to renew their visas in their country. Only Robert Laua returned to the club and until the confirmation of Talo’s departure, the player was not back to the Papua New Guinean capital city. The reasons for the incident are still to be disclosed.
Talo already played has experience in the OFC Champions League after representing the Solomon Islands clubs Western United and Marist FC, being a well-known player back in Solomon Islands for his performances for the Solomon Islands Futsal national team. Talo, most recently, represented Henderson Eels in the Telekom S-League in his country, finishing in the 2nd position in the process.
Tomonori Sugiyama left Samoa. The Japanese goalkeeper had an important role in the country as a player. He was also the Goalkeepers Coach of Samoa National Football Team during his time there.
Sugiyama played for Lepea during his stint in Samoa. Lepea’s official account on Facebook made a statement about his departure – “… Appreciate every contribution you have provided for the development of Lepea Football Club. We are going to miss you in this year’s season however we wish you all the best for your new role in New Zealand and continue to inspire young goalkeepers just like you did here in Samoa. Keep in touch.”
Sugiyama (first from right to left)
As it was reported in the Lepea’s statement Sugiyama is going to New Zealand but we still do not have further information about it. We will keep investigating in order to bring the most accurate information for our followers.
Sugiyama did not stay for a long time in Samoa but he was a very important person to help in the development of the sport in the country. His legacy will be remembered there.
Football in Oceania has been shaken by the recent news coming from Papua New Guinea: Lae City announced two more signings for the 2019/20 season – the Komolong brothers Alwin and Felix are set to reinforce the squad of the team coached by Peter Gunemba.
Alwin, a defensive midfielder who can also play as central defender, most recently defended for Fortuna Köln in the 3rd tier of football in Germany. Felix, a central defender, moved back to Papua New Guinea after a stint in US College Soccer side NKU Norse. Felix also had a stint at ISPS Handa Premiership side Canterbury United.
Both players helped the Kapuls to reach the grand final of the last OFC Nations Cup held in home soil in 2016. The 22-year-old Felix Komolong already represented his country 19 times internationally, and his brother 25-year-old brother Alwin has 16 international caps for Papua New Guinea.
Felix (left) and Alwin Komolong playing for Papua New Guinea
According to Post Courier, both players are set to be registered with Lae City in March, the next period of registration. This will not allow the Komolong duo to play in the upcoming OFC Champions League this month when Lae City travel to Vanuatu to face Malampa Revivors, Lautoka and Henderson Eels in the Group B of the continental competition. It is also said both players already met with the club management, and have already taken part in training sessions with the Lae-based football side.
The 19-year-old midfielder from Solomon Islands Patrick Taroga is no longer going to play for Henderson Eels in the OFC Champions League. The player was recently listed by SIFF in the final squad of the current Telekom S-League runners-up for the tournament, but the Henderson Eels head coach Eddie Marahare stated the player is no longer being part of the team that will travel to Vanuatu on 11th February to face the locals Malampa Revivors, the Fijian side Lautoka and Lae City from Papua New Guinea in the Group B of the OFC Champions League.
Patrick Taroga donning the national team jersey – OFC Media
The young talented player is set to to take up a scholarship offer to attend tertiary studies in 2020, so the 19-year-old player will not be available to represent Eels in the most important club tournament in the region. It is still to be disclosed to which country Taroga is set to leave for his scolarship. The young player was widely praised in social media for his choice, to pursue education alongside football.
Taroga was one of the responsibles to put Solomon Islands U23 national team in the grand final of the last edition of the U23 OFC Olympic Qualifiers, beating Vanuatu in the semifinal, but unable to surpass the strong New Zealand side in the gran final – ending with the silver medal in the competiton held last year in Fiji.
The second matchweek of 2020 Vodafone Premier League is scheduled to be played this weekend. Three matches will be contested as Ba vs Suva clash was postponed because Ba is travelling to New Zealand as part of their preparation for OFC Champions League.
Labasa will face Navua at Subrail Park this Saturday and they need to recover from the 2-1 loss against Suva in the first week. The Babasiga Lions are the favourites to win but newly promoted Navua showed that they can be a good challenge for their opponents. Labasa will count on some good offensive players like Ratu Anare, Siotame Kubu and Ashnil Raju. However we can not forget Atonio Tuivuna’s importance as the midfielder plays a crucial role in the team.
Atonio Tuivuna (right) playing for Labasa in the 2019 CVC series. Source: FFA Media
Navua pin their offensive hopes at Taniela Rakariva. The 23-year-old striker scored in his official debut for Navua in the 2-1 loss against Nadi. There are lots of expectations on him as he was the top scorer of Vodafone Senior League in 2018 and 2019.
After thrashing Nasinu by 6-0, Lautoka will host Nadi at Churchill Park in their last official match before their debut at OFC Champions League on February 15 against Malampa Revivors from Vanuatu. The fans will have a good opportunity to support the Bluez before their depart in a match that will be very interesting as both teams have good forwards. Dave Radrigai and Alex Saniel scored two goals each against Nasinu and they are ready to score and score.
Lautoka can also count on some players like Arami Manumanubai and Jason Thomas that were cleared to play for the Bluez.
Radrigai (left) and Saniel (right) playing for Lautoka against Nasinu. Source: FFA Media
Nadi won their first match against Navua and they want to grab three more points. The biggest news for Jet Setters comes from Avinesh Swamy as he is cleared to play this weekend. His quality and experience must be a great boost for the team as they already count on good forwards like Tito Vodowaqa and Rusiate Matarerega.
Atkin Kaua playing for Solomon Islands National Football Team. Source: SIFF Media
Rewa will not count on Anish Khem that was sent off against Ba in the first matchweek. Despite having some good players like Simione Tamanisau, Savenaca Baledrokadroka, Setareki Hughes, Jale Dreloa and Gabriele Matanisiga, the Delta Tigers are stronger now as they signed with Marika Rodu to be Rewa’s head coach afrer playing the opening match against Ba with an official head coach.
You can check the current league standings and the top scorers by clicking here. Oceania Football Center wish good luck to all teams.
After not playing in the last weekend in the top-tier league of Australian football, Wellington Phoenix is back to action this Friday – but they will need to travel a long distance to face Glory in Perth. The Distance Derby is the name given to the match between Phoenix and Glory; both sides need to travel the longest distance in the league for their three matches in the regular season – this is the time for the New Zealand-based side to fly to the Australian west coast city of Perth.
Glory comes in a fantastic streak of eight unbetan matches, being seven of those victories – including an impressive 6-2 over Newcastle Jets. The likes of Diego Castro, Bruno Fornaroli and Nicholas D’Agostino are key figures for the purple side. Chris Ikonomidis, another important member of Perth Glory squad, will be missing the match against Phoenix after sustaining an injury – good news for the Nix that will not have to deal with the Austrailian international.
Reno Piscopo is back to Phoenix – A-League Media
The coach Ufuk Talay will have all players available for the weekend, including the young talented midfielder Reno Piscopo that is back afte a succesful stint with Australia U23 national team in Thailand, helping his country to qualify for the Men’s Olympics Football tournament. The 21-year-old player missed the last four matches of Phoenix.
The club that is currently ranked 4th in the league will have a rare chance to jump positions in the table; a win can mean for the Phoenix reaching the 2nd spot in the table. The match is not going to be easy for any side, since the fantastic moment of Glory put them in the 3rd place in the run so far.
Phoenix also had a fantastic streak in the season – nine matches without a defeat – that was broken three weeks ago by Brisbane Roar after a 1-0 away defeat. Their last match against Mariners gave the New Zealanders a relief to the back to the winning ways after a hard fought 2-1 win at Sky Stadium in Wellington.
The match will be telecasted by Sky Sport and livestreamed at MyFootball YouTube channel for foreign supporters. Glory take on Phoenix at 11:45pm NZT at HBF Park, Perth.
Since Galaxy FC signed with English striker Terence Carter people have not heard anything about Kensi Tangis. The 29-year-old striker is the current top scorer of 2019-20 Port Vila Premier League with ten goals but there is no recent news about him.
Kensi Tangis is the current top scorer of 2019-20 PVFA Premier League. Source: Vanuatu Sports News
According to people related to local football Tangis is still a Galaxy’s player but he is not cleared to play. It is not known the exact reason but it seems that he had some extra troubles with his injury.
Despite this problem he must be named as part of the team squad for 2020 OFC Champions League.
It was reported by Nadi FA president Javed Ahmed that Nadi’s three new players are clear to debut for The Jetsetters.
Legendary midfielder Avinesh Waran Swamy and Ritik Prakash arrived from Ba. They also added Sakaria Naisua to the squad. They are all cleared to play for Nadi against Lautoka this weekend. However it is not known if they are already fit to play.
Swamy, Naisua and Prakash. Source: Fiji FA
Nadi had a positive start in 2020 Vodafone Premier League after beating Navua by 2-1 with two goals scored by Rusiate Matarerega.
Hekari United is set to represent Papua New Guinea once again at OFC Champions League; the powerhouse that already won once the most important club tournament of the region will have the unique opportunity to play the Group A of the next edition at Port Moresby, where the club is based. Hekari is currently topping the league in Papua New Guinea and is set to start their campaing in OFC Champions League on 15th February.
The club is certainly one of the favorites to qualify for the knock-out stage, the home crowd advantage can help a lot, but the team is also very well prepared for this challenge. The club signed important players, as the both Brazilian Erick Joe and Vinicius Reis and the Solomon Islanders Anthony Talo and Robert Laua.
Couting with five foreign players in their squad, Hekari staff will need to choose which of them will be dropped from the OFC Champions League squad. Only four foreigners are allowed per each team – three are free slots and one reserved for an OFC player.
Viníciuis (center) and Erick Joe (left) – PNGFA Media
The three players will compete from the two spots remaining for the foreign quota. Both Laua and David might be used as replacements for the experienced full backs Koriak Upaiga and Daniel Joe – both capped by Papua New Guinea national team with plenty of international experience. The competition for Vito Laloata might be big upfront as well, with important players as Patrick Aisa, Atti Kepo and Kolu Kepo jumping in front the first eleven competition.
Laua, David and Laloata are in the contention – PNGFA Media
The players will have a last chance to impress the head coach Jerry Allen before the release of the final squad of the OFC Champions League 2020, when they face Morobe United in Lae on Saturday (8th Jan).
