Galaxy FC signs with Gagame Feni

Galaxy FC (Vanuatu) official facebook account announced that Gagame Feni is their newest player. He is going to Galaxy to strengthen their squad for 2020 OFC Champions League.

Gagame Feni is 27 years old and he has lots of experience in Oceanian Football. He already played in New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. He was playing in Suva (Fiji).

Feni was a key player for Suva in 2019, being the team’s topscorer in the season with 12 goals scored including all official competitions. He was also the topscorer of 2019 FIJI Fact, helping Suva to reach the final match.

Feni receiving the Golden Boot Award of 2019 FIJI FACT

Feni is also an important player in Solomon Islands National Football Team. He scored 10 goals in eight matches for his national team this year.

Galaxy FC now counts on six foreign players: Gabriel, Diego and Roberson from Brazil – James Naka, Gagame Feni and Nelson Sale from Solomon Islands.

Solomon Warriors three points clear in the lead after thrashing Kossa

The young squad of Kossa could not hold the power of players as Benjamin Totori and Dennis Ifunaoa as they suffered a 5-0 defeat against Solomon Warriors in the midweek clash of Telekom S-League.

Kossa had goalscoring chances with the youngsters Barrie Limoki and Charles Mani, but it was Molea Tigi who scored first at the 13th minute of play. The game turned into an equal contest for the rest of the match until the second goal was scored through the effort of Solomon Islands national football team captain Benjamin Totori.

Warriors celebrate their goal – SIFF Media

Eighteen minutes later of scoring the second goal of the contest Dennis Ifunaoa scored the third of the leaders of S-League and two quick goals i the 88th and 90th of play scored by Lency Norman and Molea Tigi sealed a confortable 5-0 win by the team in red.

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Totori is being vital for Warriors since he signed for the team – SIFF Media

Solomon Warrios is now three points clear in the leadership of the national league – Henderson Eels comes just behind Warriors in the table and they might be sorry for losing to Isabel United in their last clash in the weekend.

Ricki Hebert leaves head coach role in Hamilton Wanderers

The New Zealand football legend Ricki Herbert, former All Whites coach is no longer the head coach of the ISPS Handa Premiership side Hamilton Wanderers. The start of season is being very harsh to Wanderers that currently sits at 10th position of the league, the last placed team.

In a statement, Hamilton Wanderers chairman Dave Douglas announced the departure of Herbert of the major staff role of the team. “Due to the growth of his Football Development Manager role at our club, the growth of the Ricki Herbert Football Academy, his technical role at Cambridge FC and some outside business opportunities that have presented themselves, Ricki has felt that he needed to reduce his ISPS Handa Premiership Team coaching duties so as to be able to concentrate on his other roles as they continue to expand. This was a very tough decision for Ricki and it’s important to note that Ricki will still be involved in a coaching supporting role for our ISPS Handa Premiership Team until the end of the 2019/2020 season“, stated Douglas.

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Ricki Herbert – Wanderers Media

With the departure of Ricki Herbert of the role, It is already known who will be taking the job: “I am pleased to announce that Kale Herbert, our current National Youth League Head Coach and National League Assistant Coach, will be taking over as our Head Coach until the end of this season“, said the chairman.

Despite leaving the spot, Ricki Herbert stated: “whilst it is sad to be moving away from the Head Coaches role in the National League, I’m really looking forward to continuing to support Kale, the coaching staff and players in the background. Likewise the chance to continue to expand on the opportunities and good work done this year in our junior/youth football areas is something that I can’t wait to be able to dedicate even more time too“.

On behalf of the club, I would like to thank Ricki for his time as Head Coach of our ISPS Handa Premiership team over the last two and a half years, in which he lead us to a club high position of 6th in the 2018/2019 season, having been in the top four for a large part of that season and who introduced players such as Tommy Semmy and Derek Tieku into both our National League and Northern League teams“, said Dave Douglas.

Hamilton Wanderers side will be taking on Waitakere United in the next round of ISPS Handa Premiership, now coached by Ricki’s son, Kale Herbert, at Porrit Stadium.

Kooline’s Anthony Talo: everybody is working hard for the Champions League

Kooline fought hard to win Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA) 2019 Futsal League – just overcoming Marist of Elliot Ragomo in the goal difference at the end of the league. The futsal champions of the most important futsal nation in Oceania come as one of the favourite teams to lift the very first OFC Futsal Champions League, to be played this week in Auckland, New Zealand.

The star goalkeeper Anthony Talo says “now every team is working hard for the tournament. It is not easy”. The Kurukuru member sees a lot of good competition coming in the newly launched tournament in the region – “No one is favorite in this tournament”, he adds.

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Anthony Talo playing for Solomon Islands – OFC Media

The goalkeeper, that has experience of already taking part of FIFA Futsal World Cup for Solomon Islands, was once again voted as the best goalkeeper in the region after his brilliant performances in OFC Futsal Nations Cup leading to another title of his nation: “It was an amazing feeling to win for Kurukuru“, says Talo.

The goalkeeper admits their first game will be against one of the toughest teams in the competitions: “The hardest opponets for us will be the representants of New Zealand and Tahiti – first games are always hard, especially with a good oposition“. The first game of Kooline in the tournament will be against Pirae of Tahiti.

Talo says that the Kurukuru members of Kooline squad for the OFC Futsal Champions League – five in total – will help a lot with their experience in the court to guide the team to another succesful campaign. “It will be a bonus for us to win this competition after OFC Futsal Nations Cup“, stated the star player.

In the next days we may see what will be the fate of Kooline and their opponents in this very interesting tournament that is making all futsal fans in Oceania anxious to watch.

Tonga football season champions are defined

In the last weekend the champions of the two men divisions of Tonga Football and also the women’s league were defined in the Kingdom. Veitongo FC was already champions since the second round of the Tonga Premier League but this weekend sealed their success after they won Longoteme by 4-2; Veitongo won all 21 matches of the season to make a perfect campaign and rule football in the country.

The Veitongo champions squad

Despite not training all days in the week, our team got the skills and heart to beat all opponents“, said defender Sione Tuifangaloka of Veitongo. The bad news for the champions is Tuifangaloka will be moving to Australia and will not be able to play for Veitongo in the OFC Champions League qualifiers. Veitongo has various players in the Tonga national team, as Mahe Malafu, Hemaloto Polovili and Kamaliele Papani.

In the Division I, the second tier of football, Nukuhetulu won the grand final of the league after beating Ahau by 2-1 scoreline. Henry Tu’iono was the key man for the champions side as he scored 38 goals in the entire season for Nukuhetulu. The coach Lafaele Moala was also praised by the players and football community for their success. Both Ahau and Nukuhetulu will play in the top-tier of football in the next season.

Nukehetulu Squad

In the grand final of football in the women’s league, Veitongo saw their dominance broken by Navutoka. The usual dominant team in the sport, lost by 4-3 margin to Navutoka, to seal their first football title in women’s football. Veitongo had won all games in the entire season, just being beaten in the decisive day.

First ever OFC Futsal Champions League will be played this week

Futsal in Oceania now have a new competition; the OFC Futsal Champions League will have its first edition this weekend in New Zealand, counting with national champions of six Oceania Football Confederation members. The confederation made a very important step towards the evolution of the sport in the region.

Some months ago the OFC Futsal Nations Cup – the top tournament of the sport in the South Pacific – was held in New Caledonia and Solomon Islands was once again champions after beating New Zealand in the grand final after penalty shootout. Various players that defended their nations in the Nations Cup will be stepping in the courts once more to play for the best futsal teams of the confederation. You can see the full schedule of the competition by clicking here.

Kooline FC from Solomon Islands in New Zealand – SIFF Media

One of the most anticapated teams to watch is the Solomon Islands champion Kooline FC. The team comes from the most important futsal nation in the region and has very important players in their squad – you can see the full Kooline squad here.

Important players from Kurukuru – five in total – will be representing the Solomon Islands champions. The first choice Solomon Islands national team goalkeeper Anthony Talo will be also playing for Kooline in the competition, as another Kurukuru members as Arnold Maeluma and Alwin Hou.

Dylan Manickum will be represent Auckland in the Champions League – OFC Media

Despite not winning this year national league in New Zealand, AFF – Auckland Football Federation – team will be hungry to show the power of New Zealand futsal. The Auckland-based side was only 6th in the national championship that ended in the last week. The Futsal Whites almost qualified for their first World Cup in the previous month, but could not win a strong Solomon Islands team.

The squad the Kiwis are bringing for the tournament is really strong and can be seem as one of the strongest of the competition. Dylan Manickum was awarded the best players of the previous OFC Futsal Nations Cup and will be donning the jersey of the Auckland team. Marvin Eakins, the player/coach of the Futsal Whites will be also taking part of the tournament, as well Josh Margetts and the national team first choice goalkeeper Ellias Billeh.

Pirae Futsal’s David Auti – OFC Media

Pirae, the Tahiti representatives, will be counting with one of the most important players of Tahiti Futsal national team, Olivier Hirihiri. The player was the joint top-goalscorer of the previous edition of OFC Futsal Nations Cup, where Tahiti just in the semifinals for New Zealand, but could end up with the bronze medal after beating the home team New Caledonia in the third place match. Matana Bea, another player with international experience, also promises to be key for the Tahitian side.

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D’York Stret squad before travel to New Zealand – Vanuatu Sport

The VFF National Futsal champions, D’York Stret, qualified for the regional tournament after beating Tonga United in the grand final of VFF Futsal Top Four. The team will count with the experience of some players that competed for Vanuatu in the previous OFC Futsal Nations Cup. Jesse Takaro might be the key man for D’York Stret – Takaro has experience of playing his club futsal previously in New Zealand.

Suva’s Setareki Hughes receives honours of national league win – Fiji Times

Suva is current Fiji Futsal national league winners and will also count with some important players of the national team that took part in the previous OFC Nations Cup. The national team captain Setareki Hughes might be a key man for the team, alongside another important teammates as Bruce Hughes. Fiji ended up in the 5th position in the last regional national teams tournament.

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AS PTT Olympique Nouméa will represent New Caledonia in the Champions League – PTT Media

The last side to secure a spot in the regional club tournament was the New Caledonians ide AS PTT Nouméa that recently won the Coupe de Caédonie de Futsal in its nation. The club will count with important players that represented the country in the OFC Nations Cup held in their nation, the national team captain Cédric Humuni will be key for the team alongside Christ Pei.

The tournament will take place in Auckland, New Zealand, starting on 5th December and finishing on 8th December to seal the winners of the first OFC Futsal Champions League ever. There is an expectance to see more natios of the confederation represented in the upcoming editions of the tournament that can increase a lot the interest in the sport in the region.

FASANOC advises Fiji FA to postpone football activities

Fiji National Sports Commission (FASANOC) released a statement advising that all sporting tournaments and competitions should be postponed to 2020 due to the measles outbreak in the country.

Check the full statement:

Fiji would not be the first country to postpone football activities: Samoa already did it and after some days they decided do end the football season.

There are some youth tournaments and women leagues being played in Fiji. The Champion vs Champion series that will be contested between Labasa and Ba may be postponed too. Fiji Football Association has not released anything about it yet but they already postponed 2019 NCC due to measles outbreak. Oceania Football Center keeps an eye on this situation to update in the website.

Southern United loses three points in ISPS Handa Premiership for fielding an irregular player

Southern United won Tasman United by 4-0 in the ISPS Handa Premiership Week 1. However the match is declared to be forfeited by Southern United and shall be recorded as a 3-0 win for Tasman.

According to local sources, Cameron Mackenzie signed with Southern United but he was not in the official team squad so he could not play. He entered in the second half in the 4-0 win.

Southern won by 4-0 but they lost the three points because they fielded an irregular player

Tasman United protested and New Zealand Football competitions manager found that Southern United fielded one player not named on the club’s official list of players. Southern lost three points while Tasman won three points from this match. Both teams have six points now

Roy Krishna wins “Hero of the Month” award in ISL

Roy Krishna wins “Hero of the month” award in Indian Super League. He was elected by fans as the best player of November in the league.

Krishna is the winner of Hero of the Month award. Source: ISL Website

Krishna scored three goals in three matches during the month, helping ATK to keep the first position in the table. He is 32 years old and this is his first season with ATK.

Kaltak chosen in ‘Team of the Week’ in New Zealand

As Oceania Football Center reported, Brian Kaltak helped Auckland City to win this weekend’s match in ISPS Handa Premiership. He was selected for the “ISPS Handa Premiership Team of The Week” due to his great performance against Tasman United.

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This is his second appearence in five matchweeks in the Team of The Week. Kaltak is 26 years old and he is the Vanuatu National Team captain. He is an inspiration for Pacific Islanders.