Tonga National Futsal Team lost two matches by Walk Over in 2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup in the 5-8th place play-off matches against Vanuatu and American Samoa. It was originally reported that Tonga had many players injured so they could not play. But the truth behind Tonga’s walkover defeats in OFC Futsal Nations Cup is that many players were diagnosed with measles.
Oceania is facing a measles epidemic that was also the reson of OFC U16 Women’s Championship postponement. Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus.Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and it may last 7–10 days.Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than 40°C (10 °F), cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes.
According to sources, measles occurred in a touring Tongan Futsal team which travelled to New Zealand on 14th October. One member of Tongan delegation got sick on 19th October and was subsequently diagnosed with the disease. The squad went to New Caledonia prior to their infectious period. Public health in New Caledonia administered post exposure vaccination to four members of the squad who did not report a history of two doses of MCV (Meningococcal Vaccine).
Tonga National Futsal squad for 2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup
On 1st November, six people from Tongan delegation became unwell with measles – that’s why they did not play against Vanuatu on 1st November neither against American Samoa on 2nd November – “The doctor said we were not going to finish the tournament” said Tongan player Timote Fakasiieiki. They have remained in New Caledonia until the infectious period has passed while the remainder of the squad returned on 4th and 5th November.
It also affected other Futsal National Teams like Fiji’s. They arrived home today – 15 days after the end of the tournament – because they were stopped by Ministry of Health from coming back home because they were exposed to measles virus after playing against Tonga. Despite the exposure, no one from Fiji Futsal delegation got sick. “We were quarantined in the hotel and our movements were restricted for a week while at the same time we were vaccinated” said Fiji National Futsal Team head coach Mira Sahib.
The measles outbreak is a big problem currently in Oceania. They started in New Zealand earlier this year and spreaded for whole Oceania. Samoa already declared state of emergency and closed all schools because of deaths caused by the virus. Tonga started to be affected by the disease after rugby players come back sick to Tonga after staying in New Zealand for a while.
The Tupuji Imere 2-0 loss against Galaxy in the sixth gameweek of Port Vila Premier League marked the return of Azariah Soromon to the club. He took part of the starting eleven but did not manage to score against strong Galaxy FC.
Soromon arrived to Tupuji Imere earlier this year but he could not play the beginning of this season because he was committed with Vanuatu National Futsal Team that played OFC Futsal Nations Cup in New Caledonia.
Azariah Soromon (number 9) with Tupuji Imere squad against Galaxy FC
The 20 years old forward is the main hope of Tupuji Imere to score in the league. His team is currently in the 7th position with just four points in six matches. Last season he played for Southern United from New Zealand in the ISPS Handa Premiership scoring two goals in six games, helping Southern to have their best campaign ever in the league.
He also took part of the historical ni-Van squad that played the U20 World Cup for Vanuatu National Team in 2017.
Te Runga is the Kiribati National Sports Championship and it is a time for all sports persons to congregate for two weeks of intense sporting competition. This competition includes sports like volleyball, football and basketball. The games were conducted between 4th and 15th november in Tarawa, Kiribati’s capital.
The men’s tournament counted on 23 teams split in four groups while the women’s tournament had 7 teams. The matches were held in a sand field because there is no grass pitch in Kiribati.
Makin and BTC players in men’s semifinal. Source: Jeff Brock
The top four teams of each group qualified for the Round of 16 in the men’s tournament. BTC was the champion after beating TUC by 3-2 in the final match while Abaiang won BTC by 4-0 in the women’s final.
Oceania Football Center is trying to collect more information about the matches but you can see more by clicking here. Kiribati is not a FIFA member but they are affiliated to CONIFA just like Tuvalu. You can read more about the situation of Kiribati’s football by clicking here.
Henderson Eels won Marist by 3-0 last Sunday at Lawson Tama Stadium. This match marked the Leon Kofana’s debut for Henderson Eels and also marked the first goals of Raphael Lea’i in the club.
The young players played in a good level and pleased Eels’ head coach Eddie Marahare “I am happy with their performance. About Kofana, he played and combined well with rest of the team in defense. For Raphael, though he missed couple chances in the game, but he managed to score two goals at the end.” said Marahare.
According to local sources Kofana had a solid match playing alongside team captain Fred Kini in the middle of the defense. His quality with the ball and aerial reach can be a differential for Henderson Eels in the defensive ends.
Kofana playing in his debut for Henderson Eels. Source: S-League Media
Raphael Lea’i composed the team’s attack with Tutizama Tanito and Patrick Taroga once Joses Nawo and Kennedy Watemae were injured and could not play against Marist. Both are expected to be back to the team in the next match against Guadalcanal.
“Raphael played as an extra striker operating in the wings” stated Marahare. Lea’i had some opportunities throughout the match and he found the net twice at the end of the game to seal the 3-0 win against Marist.
Eels players celebrating a Raphael Lea’i (number 13) goal
Both played the whole match and having lots of minutes at senior level will surely help their development as footballers. Henderson Eels is in the second position with 25 points just three points behind Solomon Warriors.
The catch-up match between Trio Kedeigne and AS Mont-Dore was played this weekend at Stade Hnassé in Lifou. Trio Kedeigne was looking for a win or a draw to keep their chances to avoid relegation alive in the first tier of football in New Caledonia. AS Mont-Dore could still grab the thid place in the table despite not having a season their fans expected.
ES Wacaele awaited the match to know their fate and the outcome was the worst possible for them: they are relegated to the second-tier of football in New Caledonia, they will be back to the Championnat de Maré – the proccess of promotion to Mobil Super Lige, the top-tier, is divided into the regions in New Caledonia. Trio Kedeigne could avoid a direct relegation drawing in 1-1 against AS Mont-Dore at home – a result that was good for both sides, since Trio avoided the relegation and Mont-Dore finished third in the standings.
ES Wacaele could not avoid relegation this season – MSL Media
Despite the good news for Trio Kedeigne and their fans in Lifou, they still have a chance to be relegated if they can not win the playoff-relegation match against a club from the lower division that is yet to be known. You can see the final standings released by FCF clicking here.
Another round of Telekom S-League is over. Four matches were played at Lawson Tama Stadium. Scroll down and check Oceania Football Center’s review of the round.
LAUGU UNITED 1-1 KOSSA
Everything tied in a very tough match! Harrison Mala opened the scoreboard for Kossa but Darold Kakasi tied the match for Laugu. It was Kakasi’s first goal in this S-League season before. This result kept both teams at the same positions in table, Kossa in 4th and Laugu United in 5th.
Kakasi (in black) fights for the ball. Source: S-League Media
SOLOMON WARRIORS 4-0 MALAITA KINGS
Solomon Warriors won again to remain on top of the table with 28 points. Dennis Ifunaoa opened the scoreboard in the late first half while the three other goals were scored in the second half. Ni-Van players John Alick and Tony Kaltack had important roles in this match with both players scoring one goal each. Kaltack remains on top for Golden Boot Award with 15 goals scored in ten matches.
Tony Kaltack with the ball against Malaita Kings. Source: S-League Media
HENDERSON EELS 3-0 MARIST
Henderson Eels won Marist by 3-0 in Leon Kofana’s debut. Patrick Taroga opened the scoreboard for Eels. The other two goals were scored by Raphael Lea’i in stoppage time to seal the win. These were the first goals of Lea’i in S-League.
Raphael Lea’i (left), Alick Solo (middle) and Leon Kofana (right). Source: S-League Media
ISABEL UNITED 4-0 REAL KAKAMORA
Real Kakamora remains winless on bottom while Isabel moves up with three more points. Sam Vahia opened the scoreboard for Isabel in the first minute. The second goal was an own-goal scored by Kahu John. Alvin Ray and Tuita Maeobia also netted for Isabel United.
Jordan Lea’alafa playing for Isabel United. Source: S-League Media
Check the full standings and top scorers by clicking here.
After 525 days without action New Zealand Football national team got back to play in two friendly matches in Europe. The All Whites faced Ireland in Dublin and Lithuania in Vilnius. An interesting squad called up by the new coach Danny Hay with some possible debutants in the national team creating a lot of expectations for the Oceania football fans.
In their first match four players made their debut: Joe Bell, Callum McCowatt and Elijah Just starting the game and the striker Elliot Collier coming as replacement in the second half. The most happy of them was McCowatt. After a very good setup play scored the unique goal of New Zealand in the both matches and his first at international level.
Callum McCowatt goal against Ireland
New Zealand has shown positive signs in the match with a strong starting eleven – probrably the best they could play against Ireland in that day. Despite doing a strong first half, New Zealand defense was challenged in certain moments and made Stefan Marinovic to stop some shots. The unique finish he could not prevent to find his nets was the Derrick Williams header at the end of the first half. The Blackburn Rovers defender was not well marked inside the box and equalized the match before the break.
In the beginning of the second half Ryan Thomas had a very decent shot that was saved the opposition goalkeeper, but minutes later New Zealand would allow the Preston North End midfielder Sean Maguire to finish with quality finding the top corner of All Whites goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic.
The second half also saw some substitutions made by Danny Hay: Elliot Collier debuted, Andre de Jong had a chance to play and Bill Tuiloma was introduced in the half-time to replaced Winston Reid that is still recovering from his past injuries.
Reid is still recovering from injury
New Zealand after conceding the second goal turned eager to find an equalizer and left many spaces for the Irish counter attacks. Despite creating some interesting chances, especially with the wonderkid Sarpreet Singh, it was the Sheffield United forward Callum Robinson that could find the target with a free-header inside the box. The 24-year old English Premier League scored the third goal for Ireland in the 75th minute of play and also created many problems for the Kiwi defense – including forcing Stefan Marinovic to a world class stop to avoid a fourth goal.
Elliot Collier also almost scored in his debut – he penetrated the opposition box and received a magnificent pass by Sarpreet Singh, but his shot was stopped by Irish goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara.
Despite not showing their full force against New Zealand, the majority of the Irish team played in English first two top-tiers – a quality the team from Oceania surely does not have. The coach Danny Hay stated after the match he was pleased with many aspects of the game, especially for a team that trained only two days together.
The next challenge for New Zealand was a great opportunity to secure a rare win against an UEFA nation – in history, the All Whites just won three times an European football nation. Lithuania national football team last win was in March, 2018 and the previous week they were hammered by the European powerhouse Portugal by 6-0. The Lithunians just draw one match in the Qualifiers for UEFA European Championship against Luxembourg and lost all remaining matches in the group.
New Zealand also could not play with their full force against Lithuania: Chris Wood, Winston Reid and Ryan Thomas, the three most important players of New Zealand, were sent back to their respective teams due injury concerns. The LFF Stadium in Vilnius has astro turf and their clubs were worried about the possibility of a new injury for the three players that recently suffered being away from pitch due this reason.
Wood was not available to face Lithuania
The starting lineup of New Zealand for this match had also a debutant: the Willem II defender James McGarry that started as a left back. The striker Max Mata and defender Nando Pijnaker also made their debut entering in the second half.
Danny Hay played a different team for this match – a total diferent starting eleven in comparison to the previous match against Ireland. The goalscorer of the New Zealand side in that game, Callum McCowatt, did not play due request of his club Wellington Phoenix.
Marco Rojas was back to the starting eleven and seemed the most dangerous player of the All Whites in the first half. He created a very good chance that was saved by Lithuanian goalkeeper after a powerful header of New Zealand captain for the match Tommy Smith.
Andre de Jong also had a golden opportunity after goalkeeper Ernestas Setkus give away the ball; he dribbled the defender and with the stopper out of his nets his shot was above the bar.
New Zealand had a lot of trouble to deal with Legia Warsaw winger Arvydas Novikovas: the skilfull player was too much for the young James McGarry to hold and created many opportunities there were wasted by himself or some of his teammates, as Fedor Cernych.
Despite not scoring early, Lithuania looked dangerous in many parts of the first half – as New Zealand also threatened the opposition especially through the efforts of Marco Rojas. At the ending of the first half, a shot by the tallented Novikovas could not be stopped by Michael Woud that was surprised by the Lithuanian; the New Zealanders allowed speace for the forward that plays his club football in one of the most important tems of Poland. Lithuania scored and hold the lead – going for the break upfront in the scoreboard.
With the additions of Joe Bell and Sarpreet Singh in the half time, New Zealand looked more creative in the second half. Singh and Bell gave more mobility to the midfield than Ridenton and Rufer, players who they took the spot in the final half.
Despite of the New Zealand changes, it was Michael Woud, the young Kiwi goalkeeper, that needed to stop the best chance of the second half – once again the feet of Arvydas Novikovas in an one-on-one situation inside the box.
Sarpreet Singh had a very good run in the midfield, passed one defender and finished wide. It was the closest New Zealand could get to find the goal they needed to equalize. Lithuania was despair to grab a win after so many time without that feeling; the coach Valdas Urbonas introduced more defensive power to hold the creative players of New Zealand and result was the success of his strategy not allowing much space for the Oceanians. An uninspired night for New Zealand ended up with one more defeat, this time for Lithuania by 1-0.
After the match, Lithuanian football channels stated their relief to finally get back to the winning days, thanking their fans for the supporting in the stadium. The coach Danny Hay said the opposition side was really hungry to grab a win against an experimental team of New Zealand; “I think we’ll come out of this with a very clear idea of how to move forward”, says the All Whites head coach to New Zealand football media.
The words of Hay are hopeful but New Zealand was surely a better team than Lithuania – what did not happen in the pitch in the game against the local side. The Lithuanians lost matches to teams such Luxembourg and Estonia in their winless period – which just can not be different than displaying a red allert for New Zealand football.
Although without their English Premier League players and Thomas that is currently at Dutch Eredivisie for this match, New Zealand had enough quality to challenge, play well and win the Lithuanians. The match against Ireland was a different story – New Zealand could have a better result if really had Kosta Barbarouses and trained for more days with that quality of football displayed in the match.
New Zealand and Oceania football fans expect to see the All Whites more active in the next months and using the young tallents they could produce that represented very well the nation in the recent FIFA U20 Wold Cup. The expectations on Danny Hay are also big; he could manage Eastern Suburbs to break Auckland City and Team Wellington dominance in the last edition of ISPS Handa Premiership season and his side played a very entertaining football to win league. The fans hope to see something similar of that Eastern Suburbs coached by Hay now in national team.
One more round came to an end in ISPS Handa Premiership, the top-tier of football in New Zealand. As usual, the goalscoring records were kept high: 19 goals were scored in five matches, resulting in a 3,8 goal rate per game. The Wellington derby – the Wel Clasico as it is called – had seen Team Wellington to have a 2-0 at half time, but a revamped Phoenix Reserves could bounce back in the final half of the game to find an equalizer. While both sides of the capital city earned a point each in the competition, the current premiers of ISPS Handa Premiership won emphatically away from home by 5-0: Auckland City smashed Hamilton Wanderers to take the lead of the standings.
Logan Rogerson and Myer bevan scored in the win of Auckland City – Phototek
Playing in Cambridge with the possibility to field their new signing Clayton Lewis – which did not happen in this match – Auckland City won Hamilton Wanderers by 5-0 with a brace of Myer Bevan, one goal each by Logan Rogerson and David Browne – the first of the Papua New Guinean international in the season. The other goal of the visitors was an own goal. The side coached by Jose Figueira took the lead of ISPS Handa Premiership after the third round since the previous leaders Waitakere United just draw at home.
Hamilton Wanderers seemed to be recovering their season after beating Eastern Suburbs by 3-0 in the last round, the team coached by Ricki Herbert did not keep their good form against the mighty Auckland City suffering a very harsh defeat.
Connor-McClean celebrates the Waitakere United equalizer – Simon Harmer
The previous team to top the table, Waitakere United, hoped to kept their good run from their first two matches in the league. They suffered a goal in the first half scored by Canterbury United defender Sean Liddicoat and needed to chase an equalizer for the rest of the match.
The third goal of the season for Alex Connor-McClean secured a point for Waitakere United. With a powerful finish, the striker found the nets already inside the final minutes of the game to avoid a defeat of his side. Waitakere continues still to be beaten while Canterbury United collected their fourth point in the run.
Martin Bueno (left) scored his first goal of the season by his club
Away from home playing in Dunedin, the current champions Eastern Suburbs won by 4-2 Southern United. The home side was looking to recover from their previous defeat for Canterbury United in Christchurch at Logan Park but the Lilywhites did not avoid Southern to earn any point from their clash.
Reid Drake scored the first goal of the visitors and the Uruguayan striker Martin Bueno scored his debut goal for Eastern Suburbs in the league – a much awaited goal for a striker who scored lots of goals in the previous seasons when playing for Hamilton Wanderers and in the Central League as member of Napier City Rovers.
Still in the first half former Canterbury United attacking midfielder Stephen Hoyle scored the third of the visitors. In the final half of the game Garbhan Coughlan scored the first for Southern and his third in the campaign through a penalty kick, but Mohammed Awad score the fourth for Eastern Suburbs before the same Coughlan assisted for Cody Brook goal to give final numbers in the match: 4-2 in favour of the visitors and current title holders Eastern Suburbs.
Hawke’s Bay United players celebrate Bill Robertson goal – Stephanie Gunter
Hawke’s Bay United won their second match in a row in the league after beating at home Tasman United by 2-0. Ihaia Delaney scored the first of the home team in the 9th minute and the player/co-coach Bill Robertson scored the final goal of the encounter still in the first half at the 34th minute of play. HBU now has six points in the table at the end of the ISPS Handa Premiership third round.
Tasman United continues their nightmare in the first three matches of the season – the club is the unique side still to score a point in the table and they are also yet to score any goals in the league. The club from Nelson did not see yet the quality of their main signing for the season, the former Manukau United forward Jama Boss.
Ben Waine scored a brace for Phoenix Reserves – Photosport
Team Wellington faced a revamped Phoenix Reserves: the first team which plays in Australian top-tier is on a bye week, it allowed the coach Paul Temple to field some important players as Oliver Sail, Ben Waine, Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi and Cameron Devlin.
Despite the reinforcements, Hamish Watson scored his fourth goal in the season giving TeeDubs the lead and still in the first half the new signing Ollie Bassett scored the second for his new club in the match and his third in the campaign.
In the second half the story was told differently: Phoenix cut the deficit through Ben Waine efforts and the same young talent scored the equalizer for his side. The match would end up early for Waine that needed to leave the pitch after an injury. Despite good attacks by Team Wellington and also Phoenix reserves in the final minutes of the game, the result was to be a 2-2 draw.
Phoenix Reserves already scored six goals in the league this season and this match seals their first point in the run. Team Wellington draw their second match in a row – the last round saw a thrilling Auckland City vs. Team Wellington clash at Kiwitea Street where both sides draw also in 2-2.
The All Whites member Myer Bevan is the current top goalscorers of ISPS Handa Premiership season – OFC Media
The Auckland City striker Myer Bevan is on fire, scoring six times in the first three matches of the league and topping the golden boot race in the season. The new signing of the season is making his comeback to his former club with style. Hamish Watson also made his comeback to New Zealand Football to play for his former side Team Wellington after a short stint in Australia and is just behind Bevan in the run for the top of the goalscoring laddar. Various players already scored three goals in the season – a season that promises to be full of goals – as Ollie Bassett of Team Wellington, the number 9 of Southern United Garbhan Coughlan and the young striker Alex Connor-McClean of Waitakere United.
Auckland City took the first place in the table after winning Hamilton Wanderers by 5-0 with seven points, the same amount of points Waitakere United has but the goal debits put the Navy Blues upfront. Eastern Suburbs and Hawke’s Bay United complete the top four with six points each while Team Wellington sits at 5th position with five points. Tasman United is still to score in the table and is the last placed team in the standings.
The PVFA Premier League’s Week 6 is over. Four matches were played in Port Vila top division and Oceania Football Center brings a review of each match for you! Scroll down and check it!
IFIRA BLACK BIRD 1-0 TAFEA
In a very important clash in the top of the table, Ifira Black Bird took advantage over Tafea in a very poor match to grab three more points and increase their lead in Port Vila Premier League. The only goal of the match was scored by Junior Vava with a header after a corner kick. Tafea came to this match with a very different starting eleven compared to other matches and it surely contributed to their defeat. Tafea is now in the third position because Galaxy won Yatel and took the second position from them.
Ifira Black Bird starting eleven against Tafea. Source: Vanuatu Sport
YATEL 2-0 ERAKOR GOLDEN STAR
Yatel proved they can be a competitive team once again to get their first win in this season. Erakor had some absent players and they could not avoid the defeat against Yatel. The goals were scored by Barhomaal Lolo and Mansen Jacob to take Yatel to the sixth position in the league, overcoming Tupuji Imere. Erakor is now in the fourth position.
Yatel starting eleven against Erakor Golden Star. Source: Vanuatu Sport
SIA-RAGA 1-3 MAUWIA
Mauwia finally took home some points in Port Vila Premier League. After a 1-0 in favour of Sia-Raga in the first half – scoreline opened by Talasia Sau – Mauwia found the necessary inner strenght to get a comeback in the second half. Yannick Albert scored to tie the game and Alfred Adams scored a penalty kick in the late second half. Albert managed to net another goal to give Mauwia the win against Sia-Raga. Despite the win Mauwia is still in the last place with three points while Sia-Raga is in fifth with seven points.
Yannick Albert (left) coach Michel Kalo (middle) and Alfred Adams (right) from Mauwia FC. Source: Vanuatu Sport
GALAXY 2-0 TUPUJI IMERE
After three matches without winning Galaxy FC finally rediscovered the path to win. Bong Kalo opened the scoreboard with a penalty kick goal and he scored a second goal in the upcoming minute to help his team to overcome Tupuji Imere by 2-0. This result helped Galaxy to climb two positions in the league standings to stay in the second position with eleven points.
Galaxy players celebrating a goal scored by Bong Kalo. Source: Galaxy FC official page in Facebook
You can check the current league standings and the top goalscorers by clicking here.
Fiji Football Association set a partnership with Multi-Cultural Sports Association, Victoria Football and Frankston Pines FC to send young Fijian players to Australia.
It was an initiative made by Voreqe Bainimarama (Fijian prime minister) during a visit to Australia back in October. This initiative is backed by DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) in making arrangements for the players to go to Australia.
This partnership has the aim of preparing young Fijian players for future in order to qualify for 2026 FIFA World Cup. Some players like Kishan Sami, Alzaar Alam, Savenaca Baledrokadroka, Shivam Naidu and Tito Vodowaqa will probably go to Australia to play for Frankston Pines in State League Division 3. This club is based in Frankston North, a suburb from Melbourne.
Kishan Sami is one of the most promising players from Fiji
They will be given contracts and they will play and work there in Australia. Oceania Football Center would like to congratulate all involved parts for the initiative.
Oceania Football Center 