ISPS Handa Premiership is back to action

The most important football league of New Zealand is back to action: the ISPS Handa Premiership starts 2020 in style with important matches, the main one is the Super City Derby between Waitakere United and Auckland City.

The first match of the round will see the Wellington Phoenix Reserves receive Southern United in Wellington at Sky Stadium. The WeeNix comes from a frustrating 2-2 against Eastern Suburbs in their last match of 2019 – they went 2-0 in the first half and allowed the opponent to level the match in the final 45 minutes. Southern had a result that they can be proud of, as they hold the powerhouse Auckland City to a 0-0 draw in Dunedin.

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Southern will travel to face Phonix Reserves – Southern Media

The Super City Derby will be the most entertaining match of the round: with a long history of rivalry, Waitakere United will be playing at home against Auckland City. Waitak is doing a fine season so far, but dissapointed in their previous game as they suffered a last-minute equalizer against Team Wellington and dropped two points.

Auckland City comes stronger for the new year as they signed two very important player for the rest of the season. Myer Bevan continues his run as top goalscorer, but in the last two matches either him or his team scored – two 0-0 draws in a row against Eastern Suburbs and Southern.

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Waitakere will hope to get a famous win against Auckland City – Simon Harmer

Sunday will be the day for more three matches of the round. Canterbury United will play against Hamilton Wanderers in Christchurch – both sides come from important victories in their last round in 2019. Hamilton finally got back to their winning days with two wins in a row after a very frustrating start of season. Both sides have the same amount of points in the table – a clash that may decide who goes up and who sticks with the same nine points.

Aaron Clapham (center) scored one of Dragons goals against Tasman – NZF Media

After losing against Canterbury United, Tasman will receive the defending champions Eastern Suburbs in Nelson. The last placed team in the rankings with just two wins in the season so far really needs the three points against the Lilywhites. The team coached by Jess Ibrom comes from two defeats in a row.

Eastern Suburbs, currently at 4th in the table, will hope the likes of Martin Bueno and Reid Drake – who scored in their last match against WeeNix – continue the good momentum this time away from Auckland.

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Jess Ibrom hopes his side can recover in the table – NZF Media

One of the most entertaining games of the round will take place in David Farrington Park as Team Wellington faces Hawke’s Bay United. Team Wellington after a 1-1 draw away from home against Waitakere United will be hoping to continue their chase on Auckland City in the table. The 2nd placed is three points away the current leaders, but they will not have an easy challenge as they face the good side of Hawke’s Bay United that is surprising in the season so far stading in the 3rd spot in the standings.

TW will hope Henry-Sinclair (center) continues his fine form – TW Media

Auckland City will hope to increase their points difference to the second and third placed teams and the mid-table placed clubs will battle hard to grab points to seek for a place into the top four. You can check the current standings of ISPS Handa Premiership here.

Kosta Barbarouses: a white star in Australia

Kosta Barbarouses is one of the most successful players of all time in Hyundai A-League. The 29 years old winger has already built a bright career in Australia to become a true legend in the most important football league in the country.

Barbarouses won A-League Premiership twice (2011 and 2015) and A-League Championship for three times (2011, 2015 and 2018) for Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory. He also won 2015 FFA Cup for Victory and received the Mark Viduka Medal – an award given to the MVP of FFA Cup Final match. He was also named for PFA A-League team of the season in 2011 and 2016. Only two other New Zealanders were named twice for the team of the season: Shane Smeltz (2009 and 2010) and Marco Rojas (2013 and 2017).

SEE MORE:
Shane Smeltz comes back from retirement

Kosta Barbarouses is an idol at Melbourne Victory. Source: FFA Media

He is also one of the all-time top scorers (5th place of all time) of Hyundai A-League with 66 goals scored in 216 matches including regular season and play-offs. The Melbourne Victory’s idol is now playing his first season for Sydney FC. He has also played for Wellington Phoenix and Brisbane Roar.

His notable honours and awards make him one of the players that will be remembered for decades. The New Zealander footballer has not turned 30 yet so he can keep on building a huge history in Australia.

2020 OFC Nations Cup format confirmed

The 2020 OFC Nations Cup will be the 11th edition of the OFC Nations Cup, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Oceania organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It is initially scheduled to be played from 6 to 20 June 2020.

OFC president Lambert Maltock confirmed in an interview that the next Nations Cup will be held in New Zealand for the third time (1973, 2002 and 2020).

Current champions New Zealand will host 2020 OFC Nations Cup. Source: OFC Media

Maltock has also confirmed the championship’s format: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga will play a preliminary round to fight for a spot in the group stage as the other seven nations are already qualified.

Solomon Islands U14 depart to Australia

Solomon Islands U14 National Futsal Team departed to Australia to play 2020 FFA National Futsal Championship in Canberra from 13 to 17 January.

Solomon Islands Sports Coalition (SISC) president, Nathanial Seru, SIFF Futsal & Beach Soccer Development Officer, Dickson Kadau and coach Caleb Fox will have the mission to lead these young boys in Australia.

Junior Kurukuru squad

Junior Kurukuru is in the Group B with Football SA Blue, Football West Black Swans, Capital Football and Football NSW Metro Lightning

Accusation of assault in S-League match

A very sad case happened in the last 14th December in Solomon Islands after a match between the 1st and 2nd placed teams in Telekom S-League season Solomon Warriors and Henderson Eels.

The Henderson Eels coach Eddie Marahare recently stated the Solomon Warriors player Molea Tigi assaulted his defender Derrick Taebo just after the game. Tigi and his supporters assaulted Taebo that was hit in the face several times – fortunately, nothing serious happened to the U17 Solomon Islands player.

Molea Tigi (left) and Derrick Taebo (right)

Marahare told Oceania Football Center there were exchange of some words during the game between the two players and after of the match the aggressions happened. “I do not know why he did that, I was very confused in that time. He said bad words to me in the pitch, but not me”, stated Derrick Taebo.

“This incident was witnessed by people inside at the main gate Grand Stand side. The Eels management took this matter seriously and reported it immediately to SIFF & TSL Board for action after but as yet nothing was done and the player stills play for his club after the incident on their final match on 22nd December 2019“, said Eddie Marahare, the Henderson Eels head coach.

Until the present moment no sanctions were imposed to Tigi, the fans involved and his club. Although, the situation may not end like this: the Solomon Islands Football Federation technical director Moses Toata already responded to Eddie Marahare statement saying “I can confirm that SIFF has recieved the complain and is going to deal with the matter accordingly“. Toata also added that the case was not in discussions before due the Christmas and New Year Eve break the season in Solomon Islands had.

Molea Tigi already played three times for the national team and is doing a very good season for Solomon Warriors so far, that is close to celebrate a back-to-back national league title.

Browne trialling with top club in Finland

It was reported by Oceania Football Center that the Papua New Guinean international David Browne left Auckland City FC in order to attend trials in Finland. After some investigation, we can reveal the club the Kapuls member is going to attend these trials: HJK Helsinki.

HJK is the most famous football club of Finland; they have won 29 times the Veikkausliga, the top-tier of football in the country. The club also took part in several editions of the UEFA Champions League, already playing more than 100 matches in the most important club tournament of the planet.

If Browne suceeds in his trials he will help to rebuild HJK that made a very frustrating season in 2019 ending just 5th out of 12 teams in the Veikkausliga, after winning the league twice in a row. According to some appointments, Browne might be the replacement of their star player Harmeet Singh, that recently departed from the Finnish side.

Taylor Schrijvers is back to Team Wellington

The defender Taylor Schrijvers resigned for Team Wellington to play the 2020 part of the ISPS Handa Premiership season. The New Zealander is back after a stint in the United Kingdom.

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Schrijvers with Team Wellington in UAE – TW Media

The defender played in the thrilling 3-3 match against Al-Ain in UAE for the 2018 FIFA Clubs World Cup when Team Wellington represented Oceania in the tournament – the match ended-up with a defeat for the New Zealand side in the penalty shootout.

He also featured in the OFC Champions League win of the Wellington-based club in 2018, when they beat the Fijian giants Lautoka in the final matches.

TeeDubs is in the run at the top-tier of football in New Zealand and has Auckland City as their biggest rivals in the battle for the national title. A well-experienced player in the continent as Schrijvers can help a lot Team Wellington to hold the pressure of the good attacking teams of the league.

David Browne off to European trials

According to reliable sources the Papua New Guinea international David Browne left Auckland City FC in order to attend trials in Europe. The forward still can fly back to Auckland if his trials are not succesful.

Oceania Football Center investigation discovered which is the club the Browne will be attending trials and the country the club is based is Finland. The player already departed from Auckland for the Northern European nation.

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Browne (right) defending Kapuls colours – Post Courier

The 24-year old forward was the top goalscorer of Auckland City FC 2019 year and also took part in the fantastic campaign that led the team to the Bronze Medal in 2014 FIFA Clubs World Cup.

Browne turned himself into the first Papua New Guinean player to become a professional player in Europe when he signed for the Netherlands top-tier side PEC Zwolle. He also played in Groningen in the European country before moving back to his former Auckland City.

Two big new additions to Auckland City FC squad

The nine-time OFC Champions League champions Auckland City added to their squad to very important players. The club is currently at the top of ISPS Handa Premiership and will play the 2020 OFC Champions League.

One of the biggest legends of Auckland City FC history, Emiliano Tade is back to the club. He helped the Navy Blues to win various tournaments and is back to the team after some years of professional football in South Africa – he last played for the top-side Mamelodi Sundowns.

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Tade when player of Auckland City FC – ACFC Media

Allongside the 31-year old forwar – according to reliable sources – Auckland City added in the squad the All Whites member Tom Doyle to the squad. The defender that played the last season for Wellington Phoenix has eleven appearences for the national team and played the most recent FIFA Confederations Cup. He last played in German 3rd tier for Chemnitzer FC, but decided to travel back his homeland.

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Doyle defending New Zealand collours – NewsHub

Despite the massive additions for the season, Auckland City lost the striker Keegam Linderboom – that did not play a single match since signed last year for the club – as he departed for Thailand.

Noah Billingsley is selected by Minnesota in MLS Super Draft

The Friday starts with very good news for New Zealand and Oceania Football as another player from the confederation enters the Major League Soccer, the most important football league of United States and one of the most imporant in the entire American continent. The full-back Noah Billingsley from UC Santa Barbara was chosen by Minnesota United in the 18th overall pick of the MLS Super Draft.

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Billingsley (right) celebrates a goal for OlyWhites – OFC Media

The defender – that is naturally a righ back – can play in various positions, including in the left-side and helped New Zealand U23 side to qualify for Tokyo Olympics playing in full-back position with more offensive freedom. Noah also played 2015 U20 World Cup for New Zealand and has three appearances for the All Whites.

The 22-year old player was praised by Minnesota head coach Adrian Heath in a statement made by the club in social media:

Minnesota United also has the All Whites member Michael Boxall in their squad and the club made a very good season in 2019 – finishing 4th in the Western Conference.

Billingsley is expected to be part of the squad for the upcoming season in United States, although he has still to battle to conqueer his spot in the team in the pre-season.