Phoenix fights but only draw against Sydney

Phoenix gave huge fight against the top table side Sydney FC at WestPac Stadium, but could not keep their lead in the second half to grab another win in the A-League 2019/20 season. The team kept their unbeaten run extending it to six matches without a defeat.

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Big battle in New Zealand between Sydney and Phoenix – Phoenix Media

Sydney pulled ahead in the scoreline after a defensive lapse of concentration between Stefan Marivonic and Luke DeVere that allowed the English striker Adam le Fondre to score the first goal of Sydney. It did not take long for the New Zealanders to level the score – David Ball provided a superb assist to the young Reno Piscopo to score his first A-League goal for Phoenix and equalize the match.

Phoenix kept their pressure ahead and the same Piscopo gave an excellent to cross to the Mexican midfielder Ulises Davila, the player scored for Phoenix to put his team ahead in the scoreboard – it was the seventh goal of the season for Davila, the top goalscorer of the Wellington in the season so far.

Sydney created chances still in the first half, but all of those were well managed by the Phoenix defense. The reality changed early in the second half with the introduction of Sydney star player Milos Ninkovic, the Serbian suffered a foul in the right side of the attack. Brattan crossed it to the area and an unfortunate touch of Phoenix captain Steven Taylor made the ball touch his own nets to give Sydney the equalizer.

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Phoenix celebrates their second goal in the match – Phoenix Media

Sydney had some chances to score their thrid goal, but It was Phoenix that created the most opportunities. Liberato Cacace made a superb play in a run in his side of the pitch, he found Davila just close the goal but unfortunately for Phoenix the Mexican could not give a final touch strong enough to score. The introduction of the striker Gary Hooper in the final ten minutes of the game proved not enough for Phoenix to find a winner.

Phoenix has now 12 points in the standings of the Australian top-tier football league keeping at the 6th position in the run. Their next match will be in the next Saturday – 28/12 – against Western United away from home.

Injury keeps Gope-Fenepej out of Le Mans

New Caledonia international footballer Georges Gope-Fenepej missed another match in French. He did not take part in Le Mans’ squad in the 3-0 win against Paris FC at French Ligue 2. The 31 years old left midfielder missed all Le Mans’ four matches in December.

It was reported by Le Mans official website that Gope-Fenepej has a calf injury that prevents him to be called up for the matches.

Gope-Fenepej played eight matches in 2019-20 season and three goals.

Fiji FA releases the venues for 2020 tournaments

The venues for Fiji FACT, Battle of the Giants and Inter-District Championship in 2020 are defined. However the only competition that is already scheduled is 2020 Inter-District Championship.

Check the venues below:

2020 Fiji FACT: ANZ Stadium (Suva)*
2020 Battle of the Giants: Churchill Park (Lautoka)*
2020 Inter-District Championship: Govind Park (Ba)
* = Only group stage matches

The biggest news comes from Ba. Govind Park Stadium – closed for repair since 2016 – will be reopened in the upcoming year and will host 2020 IDC.

Govind Park was damaged by Cyclone Winston in 2016

According to Fiji FA president Rajesh Patel, the 2020 edition of IDC will be played from 28 October to 2 November.

Roy Krishna scores twice but ATK can not win Hyderabad

After a 2-1 loss against FC Goa, ATK traveled to Telangana state to face Hyderabad in the ninth matchweek of 2019-20 Indian Super League looking for a win to recover from last weekend’s loss. This match marked Mandi Sosa’s debut for ATK.

The first minutes were very tough with many heavy fouls and one yellow card for Hyderabad. In the 12th minute the referee awarded a penalty kick to ATK due to a handball but the ball has actually touched Hyderabad player’s chest. The wrong decision made Hyderabad players very angry. Roy Krishna did not care about the complainings and opened the scoreboard by converting the penalty.

The ball has clearly touched player’s chest

Another controversial move happened in the 22nd minute when the ball hit the arm of an ATK’s defender. Hyderabad players asked for a penalty but the touch was outside the box. Hyderabad reached the equality when brazilian forward Bobô scored a beautiful header to tie the match before the break.

The second half started in a high voltage. ATK almost scored in the first minute with Jobby Justin but his header passed some centimeters above the crossbar. In a match full of controversial moments, Hyderabad saw the referee denying for them in the 64th minute. You can see the picture below and take your own conclusions:

Hyderabad fought hard but they could reach the win until the 84th minute when Bobô netted another header to give them the 2-1 lead. However ATK still managed to tie the match. After a wrong long pass ATK won an aerial duel and the ball arrived to Roy Krishna that lobbed the goalkeeper to score his second goal in the 90th minute. After the final whistle the score was 2-2. You can check the highlights by clicking here.

Roy Krishna scored in the final minutes. Source: ATK Official Media

Krishna has now eight goals scored in nine matches. ATK is currently in the second position with 15 points.

Isabel United had their revenge against Kossa

After beating Isabel United by 5-2 in the midweek, Kossa FC overtook Isabel to stay in the third position. However Isabel had their revenge this Saturday.

With two goals scored by Thomas Amasia, Isabel won Kossa by 3-0 and came back to the third position in the league. Nathaniel Moses scored the other goal.

Isabel players celebrating a goal against Kossa

In the other Saturday’s match, Malaita Kings thrashed Marist by 6-0 with three goals scored by Alfred Sade. Emmanuel Simon, Edward Hunieuhu and Henly Ramo scored one goal each. Huniuehu has now 13 goals in the league alongside with Raphael Lea’i from Henderson Eels.

You can check the current league standings and top scorers by clicking here.

Phoniex faces top-tabbled Sydney FC at WestPac Stadium

After a heartbreaking draw away from home against Melbourne Victory having one man advantage for more than 20 minutes in the pitch, Wellington Phoenix will be back to WestPac Stadium to face a very harsh opponent: Sydney FC. The team in the top of the table just lost one match in the season so far and is having in their attack the likes of Adam le Fondre and Kosta Barbarouses.

Phoenix already faced Sydney in the season, in an away match, where they lost by 2-1. This time Phoenix comes from a five unbeaten series – three wins and two draws – and hopes to keep the good form in front of their fans.

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Kosta Barbarouses is a threat to Phoenix defense – Neos Kosmos

The former Wellington Phoenix striker and All Whites member is one of the signings of the season for the current A-League champions alongside players as the important midfielder Alexander Baumjohann that also might be a real danger for Phoenix defense.

It is expected the youngster Cameron Devlin starts again for Phoenix – he impressed in his last game for the team after taking the place of the injured Alex Rufer. The marksman Gary Hooper still does not seem fully recovered to start the match as happened in all previous encounters.

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Ulises Davila is the Phoenix topscorer – Goal.com

On the Wellington, Davila hopes to continue his prolific goalscoring form; the midfielder already scored six in the season and is one of the contenders of the golden boot of the season so far. Reno Piscopo is impressing in his matches alongside the hardworking David Ball upfront.

To stop the strong strike force of Sydney, the captain Steven Taylor will need to be in his best shape to secure Phoenix a very important win at home. The match will be telecasted at SkySport and also can be watched at MyFootball YouTube channel.

Former Fiji U20 player finds his space at Waitakere United

Shuiab Khan is a 24 years old left back who plays in New Zealand since 2015. He is from Fiji and played 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup.

After four years playing in New Zealand lower leagues he finally had the opportunity of his life by joining Waitakere United to play 2019-20 ISPS Handa Premiership. Waitakere is a team that already counted on some Fijian players in the past years like Salesh Kumar and Fiji’s legend Roy Krishna.

Khan (number 6) playing against Germany at 2015 U20 World Cup

Khan had a difficult beginning at his new team because he was not called up for the first four matchweeks. However his luck started to change in the fifth round against Southern United when he was called up for a ISPS Handa Premiership match for the first time ever.

He stayed on bench during the 90 minutes to watch his team’s loss. The upcoming match reserved good news for Khan and Fijian football: Khan was called up for the match and was in the starting eleven to face Hawke’s Bay United. He played the whole match in the 4-2 loss to Hawke’s Bay.

Khan (number 3 in red and white) playing for Waitakere United against Hawke’s Bay United. Source: Stephanie Gunther Photogrphy

It seems that Khan finally found his space in the team once he was in the Waitakere’s starting eleven for the second straight match this weekend against Team Wellington.

If he keeps a good level in New Zealand he will surely be called up for Fijian National Football Team. Good news for Fiji!

Port Vila Premier League return is not scheduled yet

As it was already reported, Port Vila Premier League is off for holidays. However there is no scheduled dates for the league’s return yet.

Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF) has released a new tournament that is going to be played in January: the 2020 National League Championship that is going to count on eight teams (one from each football association in the country). There are two teams already qualified for this competition: Galaxy from Port Vila and Malampa Revivors from Luganville.

Galaxy FC squad. Source: Galaxy FC Media

This tournament is going to be a preparation for both teams once OFC Champions League group stage will be played between February and March. So Galaxy, one of the teams that is fighting for the title in 2019-20 Port Vila Premier League is going to have a full schedule in the first months of the upcoming year.

Having this situation in mind, there are four possibilities:
• PVFA may postpone all Galaxy’s league matches and they will play them after the Champions League but it can affect the title race directly because Ifira Black Bird and Tafea will have played their matches before the end of OFC Champions League group stage;
• PVFA may postpone all Port Vila Premier League matches in order to not affect the title’s race;
• PVFA may anticipate Galaxy matches but it would also affect the title race because Tafea and Ifira Black Bird will play their final games after Galaxy ones;
• PVFA may not change anything in their calendar but it might be very harmful for Galaxy’s preparation because the high number of matches played.

PVFA should release a statement talking about this situation in order to clarify all doubts and show they can organize a football league properly. Oceania Football Center is keeping up with the situation in order to bring all updates about it.

Football Ferns will play traditional championship in Europe next year

New Zealand women’s national football team is one of the eight national teams that are going to play the 2020 Algarve Cup in Portugal. The Football Ferns are going to be the only non-european national team in the tournament.

Algarve Cup is one of the most traditional football tournaments when it comes to women’s football. The first edition was played in 1994 and it is contested every year since then.

New Zealand women’s national football team

Eight teams will fight for the title: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.

It is going to be the second time ever that the Football Ferns will take part on this tournament. Their first ever appearence was in 2016 when New Zealand finished in the fourth position out of eight teams. The competition will run from 4th to 11th March, 2020.

The truth behind Amicale’s fine

One of the most important teams from Vanuatu, Amicale FC ended their football activities in August. It was originally reported that they received a 6 million Vatu (Vanuatu’s currency) fine but there were not further details about the situation.

However things are starting to come up: According to local sources, the 6 million Vatu fine is actually a 6 thousand Swiss Franc (Switzerland’s currency). The irregularities were found out by FIFA because Amicale joined TMS (Transfer Matching System).

After joining TMS, FIFA could have access to all international transfers involving Amicale and they could check some irregularities that culminate in a sanction (6000 Swiss Franc fine) to the team.

Amicale players celebrating a goal in OFC Champions League

This fine refers to past years. As they could not pay this heavy fine, Amicale FC had no choice but ending their football activities. Amicale was OFC Champions League runners-up in 2011 and 2014.