Oceania Football Center

Samoa Premier Men’s League: a spectacular race

Samoa Premier Men’s League is contested by twelve teams and each team is supposed to play 22 matches in a season. Last season was an incredible one with an amazing title race starred by Lupe o le Soaga and Kiwi with the second one lifting the trophy in the final curtain due to goal debit criteria after both teams ended the championship tied on top with 54 points. “It was an amazing feeling” said Martin Tamasese (Kiwi’s Head Coach) about winning the 2018 Samoan League.

“It was very exciting specially for me. Helping Kiwi to win the league was one of the major achievements of my career.” said Ken Kerewi, former Kiwi player. This title had a different taste for them because it marked their return to Oceania Champions League. They had a good campaign in this year’s continental tournament where they managed to qualify to the Group Stage after ending the Preliminary Round in the second position.

Kiwi FC squad in 2019 OFC Champions League

Lupe o le Soaga ended the first half of 2019 season on the top with 27 points followed by Kiwi with 25. It seems that Lupe staff learned a lesson from last season once they also have the best attack in this year’s competition with 69 goals scored. “That’s why we try our very best to get away from Goal Difference as you can see […] but we need to remain on top by winning games and keep up the good momentum.” said head coach Paul Ualesi.

The clash between Lupe and Kiwi was one of the highlights of the championship so far. Lapalapa Toni was a gamechanger for Lupe to beat their rivals by 1-0. “Beating Kiwi is not easy […] They are one of the strong teams of the tournament. Winning Kiwi was an awesome feeling” stated Ualesi.

If Lapalapa Toni was a good differential for Lupe in the first half of the season, his absence may be a bad differential in their remaining matches once he is coming back to New Zealand. It is very important to check how they are going to play without him. Toni thinks they should not worry about it because Ualesi’s squad is really good: “They will stay on the top for champion this year” he told to Oceania Football Center.

This confidence does not come only from Lapalapa Toni. The squad is really focused on winning Premier Men’s League and qualify for 2020 OFC Champions League. “That’s our aim”, said John Wesley Te’o, a young player from Lupe.

Kiwi and Lupe o le Soaga are fighting for the trophy for one more year but at this time they have some other good challengers to threat them. Vaitele-Uta, Vaiusu, Vaivase-Tai, Vaipuna and Lepea are being hard opponents.

“If the question is what has changed, I would say bluntly, Football in Samoa. Simply. Football has changed! Not so much changed but has evolved, by a fair gain.” stated Ben Petana, Vaivase-Tai’s player about football development in the country

Tamasese and Ualesi are aware of it and they agree that it is a development signal in Samoan football. “It is all about commitment and I believe the second round is going to be an amazing round of football, it is not only Lupe and Kiwi fighting for the first place. There are five other clubs chasing us […] Majority of the players (of these five teams) were all from FFS development programs, and we have seen the quality of these players in their performance in every match.” said Tamasese.

Vaivase-Tai’s head coach Horst Petana talked about his young squad: “The majority of my team are teenagers who have competed in the previous youth division competition and it is a challenge for them to compete against experienced teams like Kiwi FC and Lupe ole Soaga at the Senior level. […] The young players who are in the squad were part of the development program for a while and I’m confident we can do better. […] We were the champions of the U20 League for the third year in a row and that is the biggest motivation for them now.”

Ben Petana also talked about this youth power they have in Vaivase-Tai: “We have a very young team, our development side, despite all the obstacles, has shown a lot of potential to be the best in Samoa in the next coming years. Currently there are 16, 17 and 19 year old players making up the most of our current Premier Men’s team, and they have already represented Samoa at international level.”

Despite the tough title’s contest, Kiwi’s player Kasper Havemann is confident “Some key players are coming back from injuries and travels, while we have some new players joining the club.”

Clubs have suffered with key players’ absence in some matches due to OFC Olympic Qualifiers held in Fiji like Osa Savelio and Kawasaki Saofaiga (Lepea), Tumua Leo (Vaipuna), Ronnie Bourne (Vaitele-Uta) and Eti Fatu (Vaivase-Tai) just to name a few examples. “The FFS should have postpone the competition until the qualifiers is finished.”, stated Horst Petana.

With half of the season remaining all possibilites are still open. Football fans can sit down and expect good things from Samoan League. With no more obstacles in the calendar all teams are going to have their best players available for this amazing title race. You can check the results and standings by clicking here.

Nigel Dabinyaba joins Malaita Kingz in Telekom S-League

Very important news for the Solomon Islands top tier – Telekom S-League – were released today: the prominent Papua New Guinean international Nigel Dabinyaba is set to join Malaita Kingz for the second round of the S-League.

Dabinyaba will join the also Papua New Guinean internationals Emmanuel Simon and Michael Foster in the team coached by Rence Talo. The team from Malaita stands in the 3rd position currently in the table with 12 points – six points away Henderson Eels in the qualyfing zone for OFC Champions League 2020 and seven from Solomon Warriors at the top of the table.

Resultado de imagem para Nigel Dabinyaba — Dabinyaba when player of Toti City FC – *RNZ*

The 26-yeard old forward scored already nine goals for the Kapuls and has experienced of playing full professional football in Malaysia with top tier side Penang FA. Dabinyaba also played in New Zealand for Canterbury United and in Australia for Western Pride.

Dabinyaba comes from a succesful season with his home club Lae City FC in PNG National Soccer League, where they beat in the penalties Hekari United in the grand final to win once again the national title. The PNG international also helped his team to qualify for OFC Champions League quarter-finals in the last edition of the tournament, where they were beaten by New Zealand powerhouse Auckland City.

New Zealand fights but is beaten by Brazil at U17 World Cup

New Zealand knew they would have a hard time against Brazil – but probrably they never imagined they almost could get something from this match. The Kiwis had at least three real goalscoring chances against the powerhouses but could not came up with a good result.

Brazil started the match with a lively attacking front looking to find an early goal. Kaio Jorge almost found the nets in the early minutes, but only in the 20th minute after a superb play by Gabriel Veron that the Number 9 of Santos FC in Brazil could find the nets of New Zealand goalkeeper Alex Paulsen.

Brazil kept the possession after their goal and kept creating chances. New Zealand had a clear chance to score before the end of the first half when the new signing of Tasman United, Jesse Randall, gave a powerful shot saved by Brazilian keeper in a free-kick attempt.

The turning point of the game happened when Brazilian right-back Yan Couto was sent off after stepping on Matthew Garbett leg. With the help of VAR the referee from Guatemala sent off the Brazilian defender and the South Americans were forced to play with 10-men.

The second-half was entirely dominated by the Oceania champions – something to be already proud off. The introduction of the Auckland City duo Bradley Wilson and Nathan Lobo in the second half helped New Zealand to create real chances to score. The first of them was with an attempt finished by Oskar van Hattum that went close to the post of Brazilian goalkeeper – the play was created by Marko Stamenic with a brilliant pass to the left wing – the cross found van Hattum in the middle of the area.

New Zealand kept dominating the possession of the ball – having more the ball than Brazil in the entire game – and Jesse Randall had another very good opportunity to score. He received the ball inside the area, rounds the defender and shots just close to the post. Once again, New Zealand fell short to score. Henry Hamilton also had a very good chance with a free-kick near the area, but it was wasted.

The New Zealand side that played against Brazil

Unfortunately for New Zealand they would suffer more two goals until the end of the game. Despite a very good tournament so far, the goalkeeper Alex Paulsen made a terrible mistake when tried to dribble Talles Magno. The wonderkid took off the ball from Paulsen feet and send the ball easily to the nets.

Even with one more young men in the pitch in comparison to the hosts, New Zealand could not make the goal they needed and still allowed the Brazilians to score. In another defensive mistake, the substitute Diego scored the third of the Brazilian side to seal their hard fought victory. Despite a 3-0 scoreline, the game was even much more closer than the result says – New Zealand had 53% of ball possession.

Paulsen error allowing Talles Magno to score the 2nd for Brazil

New Zealand has now slight chances to proceed to the knockout round. The four best 3rd placed team also proceed to the Round of 16 and New Zealand hopes to count with some luck from the other matches in the groups of this edition of U17 World Cup. To keep their chances alive, New Zealand will need to win their final game in the Group A against Canada – it would help a lot if they could score the maximum number of goals possible to decrease their -4 goals average.

New Zealand will have their final match in the Group A on the following Saturday (02/11) at 12am NZT.

New Zealand face hosts Brazil in their second match at U17 World Cup

New Zealand will come back to Estádio Bezerrão to face the hosts Brazil in their second match in the world stage youth tournament. The Kiwis suffered a very frustrating defeat against Angola in their opener match by 2-1 margin and hope for a better result against the South American powerhouses.

The task of the Oceania champions will not be easy: they will be facing the most prominent football nation of history at their home after suffering a defeat against the Angolan side – a bad result may mean the end of the tournament for the Young All Whites.

Brazil won Canada by 4-1 at their opener with a very entertaining football displayed. The young men from Seleção are full of tallent and some already feature in the most important senior teams of Brazilian football.

Jogador Talles Magno do Brasil durante a partida entre Brasil e CanadÃ¡, vÃ¡lida pela Copa do Mundo FIFA Sub 17 2019, no EstÃ¡dio BezerrÃ£o em BrasÃlia (DF), neste sÃ¡bado (26). Cristiano Andujar/Futura Press — Talles Magno catched the interest of Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid – *Yahoo*

Despite of not scoring in their first match, the forward Talles Magno is the most known of the Brazilian team. Playing in the traditional Vasco da Gama outfit in Rio de Janeiro, the 17-yeard old turned himself into the most important player of his team even with young age at Brazilian top professional league. Alongside Talles, Brazil will count with the quality of players as Gabriel Veron and Gabriel Peglow – the first player of SE Palmeiras and the second member of former FIFA World Club champions SC Internacional. Peglow scored twice in Brazilian win against Canada while Veron added another.

New Zealand will really need a very good defensive match to stop the Brazilian line of forwards. For this, the captain and goalkeeper Alex Paulsen might be a key player to feature for the Kiwis and hopes to stop the prominent young players from the home side.

Marko Stamenic will be instrumental for the Oceania champions in the midfield; the new Team Wellington player will need to help in the defensive duties of his team and be quick to link upfront his forwards, being the Wellington Phoenix product Oskar van Hattum the most important of them.

Imagem relacionada — Alex Paulsen will need to be inform to help his side – *RNZ*

New Zealand and Brazil will enter the pitch at 8pm BRT and 12am NZT. After this match the Kiwis will still have their final Group A match against Canada – and they will hope a win in this match will be still enough to make them qualify for the Round of 16.

OFC Futsal Nations Cup: first definitions

OFC Futsal Nations Cup day two is gone. Four matches were played and there are three teams already qualified for semifinals. Come with Oceania Football Center and check what happened in this second day of competition.

SOLOMON ISLANDS 7-2 TAHITI

Tahiti managed to offer some danger to Solomon Islands in the first half but they could not keep up with Kurukuru in the second half specially after Tahiti captain Steeve Wong has been sent off. Geroge Stevenson scored a hat-trick to bring three more points to qualify Solomon Islands for the semifinals. Tahiti still has chances to qualify once they just need to beat Tonga in the next round.

George Stevenson celebrating one of his goals against Tahiti. Source: OFC Media

FIJI 9-2 TONGA

Fiji recovered from the loss against Tahiti and won Tonga by 9-2 to keep themselves alive in the tournament. Tonga staff is surely proud of scoring two more goals in this match. Fiji will face Solomon Islands with a small chance to advance to semifinals. An interest thing to be pointed was Fiji’s collectivity in this game with seven different players scoring. Tongan goals were scored by Laulea Taufa and we can say that he is the Tonga Futsal Team all time top scorer in official senior matches with these two goals.

Iosefo Verevou right before scoring for Fiji. Source: OFC Media

NEW ZEALAND 8-1 VANUATU

New Zealand won once again and qualified for semifinals while Vanuatu goes to 5-8th place play-off. Micky Malivuk scored twice and he is one of the championship top scorers with four goals. Vanuatu’s goal was scored by team captain Ben Hungai that is probably playing his last international competition for Vanuatu Futsal Team. New Zealand faces New Caledonia to fight for the first position of Group A.

New Zealand players celebrating a goal against Vanuatu. Source: OFC Media

AMERICAN SAMOA 0-9 NEW CALEDONIA

Another good win for New Caledonia that is already qualified for semifinals. American Samoa still looks for scoring a goal in the competition and they will have their last try against Vanuatu in the last group stage match. New Caledonia had six different goalscorers in the match and we can highlight Delaunay, Sele and Humuni with two goals each. Can New Caledonia beat New Zealand to end the group stage in the first position? We are going to find it out soon.

New Caledonia players celebrating a goal against American Samoa. Source: OFC Media

STANDINGS

TOP SCORERS

🇳🇿 Dylan Manickum – 4 Goals
🇳🇿 Micky Malivuk – 4 Goals
🇸🇧 Elliot Ragomo – 4 Goals
🇸🇧 George Stevenson – 4 Goals
🇸🇧 Jeffery Bule – 4 Goals
🇵🇫 Teaonui Tehau – 4 Goals

AS MAHITOA WON THE MARQUISAS ISLANDS FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Last Saturday 26 of october 2019 on Atuona, Hiva Oa, the AS Mahitoa won the title of Marquesas Islands Champion defeating l’AS Jeunesse Marquisienne on the penalty shots for 5-3. 3 weeks ago , in the Inter-Discrits final of South Marquesas, Mahitoa won his pass to the final. During this time the team worked hard to win the final, because the winner will also get a place for the next Coupe de Polynesie 2019/2020. In the beginning of the match the AS Jeunesse Marquisienne had a good start and had a lot of opportunity to score a goal but no one ot their shot were good. Ralph Tehotu, the captain, anche the two central defenders Gilles Hofam and Teheianii Taupotini played very well. But the forward, Adams Teore, was alone and that made a very hard work for him to score a goal. The AS Mahitoa was very patient and waited defending very well. The man of the match was the Mahitoan goalkeeper Dave Vahaputona, who was supported very well by the two central defenders Tepano Mititai e Sylvestre Tupai. So the match went on and a the end of the the regulare and additional time the score was always 0-0. So we arrived a the penalty lottery. The firs three strikers for each time scored their shots. Then the AS Jeunesse Marquisienne forward Adams Teore missed it. So Pierre Mititai from AS Mahitoa went on the penalty and scored it and his team won the title. Ther AS Mahitoa, Louis Mose, a the end of the match talked with the papers: “We are very happy. Jeunesse it’s a very a good team and it’s probably better than us but, as I said some months ago, we are in a lucky period and I hope that it will continue when we will face a Ligue 1 Vini team”

[translated from https://www.ftf.pf/mahitoa-et-poumaka-les-champions-des-marquises/ ]

Welcome to World Stage, Solomon Islands!

Solomon Islands just made their debut at world stage of football; previously the islanders were well represented by the Kurukuru at FIFA Futsal World Cup and for the Bilikiki at FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Their first time in a football tournament was surely a moment to remember for two reasons: a proud moment for the nation and to understand what is the reality of football at world stage – the Solomon Islanders faced the four-time world champions at senior level, Italy – the result could not be much different than a heavy 5-0 defeat.

Resultado de imagem para Solomon Islands x Italy U17 — A different level for Solomon Islands; Degnand Gnonto celebrates Italy goal – *FIFA*

The Oceania side could hold Italy for 24 minutes – a good margin. The Italians come from academies of important teams as Inter Milan and Juventus, a very different level for Oceania, something that none country in the confederation has.

It is understandable for the locals the initial disapointment with the result, but when we bounce back to our normal mentality we can clearly see the Solomon Islands team gave everything they could to have the best result possible. The goalkeeper Davidson Malam was really impressive, important stops and shows a lot of raw potential to work with. Leon Kofana – despite giving way the first goal of the opponents – made various clinical tackles and avoided the difference in the scoreline to be even bigger that it was. Raphael Lea’i is special, a real talent that is also already raw – the whole team has a lot to improve and we can see clearly there is a lot of potential there – but can turn into a real diamond.

What is still necessary to understand in Oceania is that football is not about the best eleven players, but the best team and we can easily say that Solomon Islands have raw diamonds as Mani, Malam, Kofana and Lea’i, but they do not have a team – at least from what they have shown against Italy – and this reality made it just impossible to stop a very well organized Italian team.

A team is made by eleven players, but eleven players not necessarily make a team: a team is composed by players that are phisically fit, with proper stamina and ready to understand the game – that is mental part of the sport. Solomon Islands just could not protect their back four, they just could not combine well passing, they just could not even defend well. Italy could have scored ten, but with some lucky and due the decent performances of Malan and Kofana it ended up as five.

The historical team of Solomon Islands – *FIFA*

Stanley Waita is a legend for Solomon Islands – with total merits – and made his best to coordinate his team. He knows this is a great experience for them and this first match will teach them many lessons they can recover in their next two challenges against Paraguay and Mexico.

Football has turned into something much more complex than twenty-two players and a ball rolling in a field. Tactics matters, mentality matters, physicality matters and techinique matters. A good team will be necessarily composed by these four areas in high levels. This is what the young men from Solomon Islands are looking to learn from this tournament – the international exposure is a key factor, so on the technicall staffs will start investing in another areas of football, not only as making players good technically as usual.

As mentioned, it is completely understanble the frustration by some fans. But Solomon Islands made, without any doubts, their nation very proud. Keeping the proccess they started when they had qualified for the U17 World Cup, this generation can put the Solomon Islands football scenario in another level – but this must go on with the right treatments.

Solomon Islands and Italy entering the field – *FIFA*

This is not anymore Oceania, this is another level – higher than anything they have experienced before. These are the first steps of a generation that can bring more joy for their people. All those who are in Solomon Islands need to give their support for them in their next matches and next steps of their footballing career. There is a lot to come for them.

DRAW COUPE DE POLYNESIE 2019/20

Today at 12:00 (tahitian time) a the FTF it will be take the draw of the Coupe de Polynesie 2019/10.

All the team that submitted the inscription were accepted except for AS Vaiete, which is excluded from the competition by the FTF council.

All the Tahitians, mooreans teams will participate. Also there will be a team from Marquise Islands, AS MAHITOA, and one frome Moorea.

The first will take on the weekend of 9-11 november 2019 with team from League 1 Vini, Ligue 2 and Moorea.

In the image all the teams that will take part on the competition.

Malampa Revivors clinches a spot in VFF National Super League

Luganville Top Three is a competition played by the top three ranked teams in their local Premier League and it gives a spot to VFF National Super League.

Malampa Revivors was the first place of 2019 Premier League while Vaum United ended in the second place and Sia-Raga Santo finished in the third position. They played against each other to decide the Top Three’s champion.

Here are the results:
19 October: Malampa Revivors 3-1 Sia-Raga
22 October: Sia-Raga 1-2 Vaum United
26 October: Vaum United 2-2 Malampa Revivors

Despite losing their two matches, Sia-Raga squad and fans are happy with their campaign. It was their first season in Premier League and they already managed to qualify for Top Three. Future may look bright for them.

Vaum arrived to the last match looking for a win to be crowned as Top Three champions while Revivors just needed a draw to win the tournament. A 2-all draw was enough to give them a spot in National Super League.

Malampa Revivors is the current VFF National Super League champion and they will play 2020 OFC Champions League.

Solomon Islands 0-5 Italy – U17 World Cup 2019 Review

U17 WORLD CUP BRASIL 2019 – SOLOMOND ISLANDS vs ITALY (GROUP F)

This afternoon started the first adventure for the Solomons Islands U17 male team in the U17 World Cup that’s running in Brasil. Solomons are in a very tough group with Italy, Mexico and Paraguay. The first game that was played today was with Italy.

In fact the match was too harder for the young solomons players. Italy dominated it from the 15 of the firs half to the end of the game. There was a visible technical, tactical and athletic difference between the two nationals representives. Islanders need to improve much more their professional preparation if they want to compete a this level. But let’s see what happened during the game.

FIRST HALF

Solomons was very good at the beginning of the match. The players ran a lot and made a very good pressing that made hard to Italy to play. The first shot was made by Solomons and was Irosaea who tried to score with Leai’s assist (7’). Then was Leai himself that tried (10′) but his shot was deflected on corner by an italian defender, Dalle Mura. After that Solomons disappeared from the field and italian players took all the spaces and did whatever they wanted. Pirola shooted and took the crossbar (16′). After that some other dangerous actions was made by Italy on Solomons goal, and Italy passed with the man of the match, Gnonto, at 24’. He is a 2003, so he’s only 15 years old but he’s very talented and he would be a future phenomenon. Just some minutes after Italy scored again with the other striker, Cudrig. Gnonto made the assist. Then Gnonto scored another goal after Cudrig assist. Game over. Italy could scores other 2/3 goals. But we went to half time just like this. At 30’ Fakosori entered the pitch to replace Taebo who was injured.

SECOND HALF

The script of the second half was the same. Italy attacked and attacked again and Solomons tried to defend their goal and shyly tried to make some shots. Italy replaced Udogie with Giovane. Tongya took another crossbar for Italy (58’). At 62’ Solomons manager, Waita, replaced Alick with Sale and at 63’ Gnonto was replaced by Capone in the italian team. Then after various shots Tongya finally scored (75’). Some minutes later, 81’, Capone scored the last goal of the match, after Cudrig second assist. There was nothing else important that happened after that.

BEST SOLOMON ISLANDS PLAYER

R. LEAI: He come from another planet. A very good talented player. He’s growing up very well. I hope he will continue on this path. Solomons have a very good prospect.

SCORESHEET

SOLOMON ISLANDS

Malam; Taebo (Fakasori 30′), Kofana, Alick (Sale63′), Irosaea, Kwaimamani, Mani (Geseni ’82’) (C), Leai, Ropa, Kanahanimae, Tongaka.

Bench: Fakasori, Petua (GK), Geseni, Suri, Foata, Limoki, Sale, Hou, Suta (GK), Sofu.

Manager: Stanley Waita.

ITALY

Molla; Lamanna, Dalle Mura, Pirola, Ruggeri; Brentan, Panada (C), Udogie (Giovane 46′); Tongya; Cudrig (Boscolo ’84’), Gnonto (Capone 63′).

Bench: Gasparini (GK), Arlotti, Rinaldi (GK), Barbieri, Riccio, Moretti, Giovane, Boscolo Chio, Capone, Oristanio

Manager: Carmine Nunziata.

GOALS: 24′ 34′ Gnonto, 29′ Cudrig, 75′ Tongya, 82′ Capone

REFEREE: Mr. Redouane Jiyed (Morocco)

BOOKING: Dalle Mura