Oceania Football Center

Telekom S-League set to resume this weekend

The final matches of the 2019 Telekom S-League are set to be played this weekend and in the middle of the next week in Solomon Islands. The competition might be already decided with Solomon Warriors and Henderson Eels qualfied for OFC Champions League next edition, but the schedule is still to be completed.

Image may contain: 2 people, people playing sports and outdoor — Henderson Eels team – *S-League Media*

The schedule of the missing matches were recently released by S-League Media and will finish the 2019 season of the most important football league in the country. You can see the current table, results and goalscorers of S-League by clicking here.

Image may contain: text — S-League remaining matches to be played – *S-League Media*

2020 PVFA Opening Cup kicks off this weekend

As it was reported, 2020 PVFA Opening Cup was drawn on Saturday and there would be a meeting between PVFA and the clubs’ presidents to set the tournament’s schedule.

Tafea and Yatel will play the opening match on Saturday. Check the full matches of the first gameweek below:

24 January – Tafea vs Yatel (3pm)
25 January – Erakor Golden Star vs Mauwia (11am)
25 January – Ifira Black Bird vs Tupuji Imere (1pm)
25 January – Galaxy vs Sia-Raga (3pm)

Oceania Football Center wish good luck to all teams.

David Browne shines in HJK’s friendly

Papua New Guinean David Browne played a friendly match for Finnish club HJK last Saturday against Latvian team RFS. He did not score a goal but he had an outstanding performance to help his team to win by 2-1.

David Browne (second from left to right below)

Browne played the first half as left winger and played the second half as a right winger. His good movement helped HJK’s attack a lot. His creativity and quality put the opposite defense in real trouble. He created many chances and also had great opportunities to score, including a shot that hit the post. His biggest moment happened when he delievered a nice assist to Tim Väyrynen score HJK’s first goal. You can check the highlights by clicking here.

His good performance really impressed HJK staff. He is still on trial with the team but he can sign with the club soon as HJK first official match of the year will take place on this Saturday against TPS in the Finnish Cup.

Tommy & Thomas: Ni-Vanuatu power in Ba

Vanuatu football has many local talents that are ready to represent clubs in the OFC Champions League or even in higher level competitons around the region. Recently, It is possible to name various Vanuatu players that made the way to other Pacific countries – being the last one Bong Kalo to represent Lautoka in the last edition of OFC Champions League.

This time the Vanua Power will be with Ba FC in the next edition of the tournament: it was reported that the Vanuatu defender Jason Thomas signed for the club alongside the Solomon Islands star striker Benjamin Totori. Jason Thomas will not be the only one Ni-Vanuatu player in the Ba squad, he will join the former Tafea FC forward Micah Tommy.

Tommy (left) and Thomas – *FFA Media & Hekari Media*

Tommy played the last season for Ba in Fiji and recently returned to his nome nation for a short period with Tafea, but made his way back to Fiji to represent the team in the regional competition.

Micah Tommy had very a good stint in Ba in 2019 and he received a lot of praise from the local supporters and team staff.

A fantastic goal scored by Micah Tommy for Ba

Alongside various talented local players, Tommy and Thomas might add a lot of quality to the current Vodafone Premier League champions in order to compete at the highest level of football in Oceania.

Brazilian players arrive in Port Moresby to sign for Hekari

The two new recruits of the Papua New Guinean powerhouse Hekari United arrived in Port Moresby to finish all process and sign for the team coached by Jerry Allen. Hekari United is looking to strengthen their squad for the upcoming OFC Champions League.

Erick Joe (left) and Vinicius Kryzozun (right) arrived in Port Moresby – *Henry Morabang*

The two Brazilian players promise to be a very good addition to Hekari squad and a great promotion of the sport in Papua New Guinea.

Oceania Football Center already presented the two players for the public – click here to see their profiles.

The player will be already available for the Hekari staff for their next PNG National Soccer League match against Tusbab Stallions in the upcoming Saturday in Port Moresby.

The worth of an idol

An idol can be someone that you admire or someone who you wanted to be. Everyone had at least an idol in life: a relative, an artist, a sportsman… Everyone can become someone’s idol because idolatry is a kind of inspiration.

Danford Fiumae is a young boy from Solomon Islands that comes from Malaita Province. In 2019 he was selected for a futsal trial and he was selected to represent his country in the 2020 FFA U14 National Futsal Championship that was held in Australia.

In Australia Fiumae had the opportunity to meet his idol, legendary Kurukuru Jack Wetney gifted him with a pair of shoes. The young futsal player helped his national team to reach the semifinals in the tournament.

Wetney is a legendary futsal player that already played two FIFA Futsal World Cups. Meeting an idol be the necessary flame for someone to keep focused on succeed in life.

Vodafone Premier League kick off next month

It is being reported by Fiji Football Association that Vodafone Premier League is scheduled to begin on February 2nd. Eight teams will fight for the title of the first division of Fijian football: Ba, Labasa, Lautoka, Nadi, Nasinu, Navua, Rewa and Suva.

2020 Vodafone Premier League logo. Source: FFA Media

Vodafone Senior League, the second tier of Fijian football, is scheduled to begin on March 1st.

AJ Inia: I am keen on playing for Tonga

AJ Inia is a talented 19 years old midfielder with Tongan citizenship that is playing in the Australian leagues since the U15 level.

He was one the most important players of Melbourne Knights in the 2019 National Premier League Victoria and he is now part of an ambitious project. Despite having some offers from Asian clubs, including Phnom Pehn from Camboja, he decided to stay in Australia to play for George Cross FC – “A great opportunity came up for me to be a major signing for a club here is Melbourne as well as to train with an A-League team once a week” said Inia.

Inia (left) playing for Melbourne Knights

The A-League club that he talks about is Western United – the newest team of Hyundai A-League, the major football league in the country. George Cross FC share training grounds with Western United so Inia will have the opportunity to be closer to an A-League team – George Cross will count on some former A-League players to get the promotion for Victoria National Premier League and become a strong team in the Premier League.

Inia has never played for Australia National Teams but he has been close to represent Olyroos (Australia U23) this year – “I was cut short of the Australian U23 shortlist so I was hoping to represent them in the Olympic qualifiers, but I had to miss out because I could not renew my passport in time.” he said.

Despite the Australia’s interest he is willing to represent Tonga at Senior level – “I never spoke with them (Tonga FA), just with the coach (Timote Moleni) […] But there is a competition this year that I am keen on playing in” stated Inia. He has never hidden his Tongan roots as he keeps his citizenship available to public on social media.

Tonga Football Association already knows about him and he could be a great addition for 2020 OFC Nations Cup. Inia could follow Mohammad Rajani’s steps: living in Australia but representing Tonga at international level. They are not the only Tongan players that play abroad and Tonga FA should pay more attention on these players in order to strengthen the National Team.

Is Jared Clark eligible to play for Vanuatu National Team?

Jared Clark is a 22 years old Australian footballer that plays for Croydon Kings in the South Australia National Premier League. He is a central back that can also play as a defensive midfielder.

Despite being so young, Clark has some European experience as he had a stint at Serbian side FK Vojvodina youth teams.He also played for Adelaide United in the Y-League, the main youth football league in Australia.

Clark (in red) playing for Adelaide United Youth

There are strong rumours that Clark has Ni-Vanuatu ancestry so he would be able to represent Vanuatu National Football Team. Local people are reporting that he has some relatives that live in the country and some important people related to football also raised this question. According to sources Clark speaks Bislama (Vanuatu’s language) which could mean that he really has that ancestry.

He would not be the first Australian player representing Vanuatu. Former Australia U17 player Mitch Cooper received his first call up for Vanuatu National Football Team last year and he had a great performance in the 2019 Pacific Games held in Apia, Samoa.

Oceania Football Center management tried to talk to the player but had no answer so far. We will keep investigating in order to bring the most accurate information to our readers. Anyway, Clark would be a huge add for Ni-Vanuatu squad for 2020 OFC Nations Cup.

Islanders observer #08 – Andrew Abba

The eighth episode of Islanders Observer arrived! Oceania Football Center keep talking about the foreign islanders that are playing in 2019-20 ISPS Handa Permiership, the top national football league in Oceania. The last episode talks about Solomon Islands international Andrew Abba.

Andrew Abba playing for Waitakere United. Source: NZF Media

That is a season to forget for Abba, the Waitakere United’s winger suffered a knee injury and he will undergo surgery this week. He played only three matches in the season, coming from the bench against Canterbury United, Eastern Suburbs and Southern United in November.

He is already committed with Forrest Hill Milford to play 2020 New Zealand winter leagues.