After four days of intense football, the Pacific Cup semifinalists are finally known. The group stage is over and three clubs from Fiji are in the semifinals.
Pacific Cup Logo
Lautoka won three of their four matches in Group A to get a spot in semifinals to face Nadi that won three games in group B. The other semifinal will be contested by AUFFI All Stars (1st placed in Group A) and Labasa (2nd placed in Group B).
The semifinals and the final will be played this Sunday at Bill McKinley Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Nadi is the most successful team in Pacific Cup’s history with four titles.
Fiji Football Association (FFA) confirmed that the 2019 National Club Championship is postponed due to the measles outbreak in the country.
FFA logo
“The Health Ministry had earlier advised that Fijians should avoid all mass gatherings, where cross-infection between infected and unimmunized individuals can occur […] We sincerely apologize to the clubs and regret the inconvenience caused in the postponement of the tournament.” said Amitesh Pal, chief executive officer of FFA.
It was scheduled to be played between 6 and 8 December.
It is being reported by local sources that Maxwell Keana is suspended from all Solomon Islands Football Federaton (SIFF) football activities including Telekom S-League matches. The suspension began on Tuesday, 26th November. Local sources are also reporting that SIFF lodged a criminal complaint for falsification and fraud against him.
Maxwell Keana playing in the OFC U16 Championship
As it was reported by Oceania Football Center in the second episode, Joel “Puia” Konofilia said Keana is going to be in England next year. It is currently impossible to know if it is true or not but now Konifilia has the perfect reason to do it – and that is what he was waiting for.
The biggest remaining question that surrounds the situation is reaction of the English football academy when they receive a player with this bad background.
Wellington Phoenix finally could win their first match of the season after beating at home Brisbane Roar by 2-1. The New Zealand-based team will hope to contunie their good moment – they are two matches without a defeat – leaving in past their first four matches in the league with four defeats.
Coopers Stadium will be the venue for the seventh game of the season for Phoenix where they will face the home side Adelaide United. Adelaide comes from a win against Melbourne Victory in the last weekend and is currently in the third place in the laddar while Phoenix got back to the bottom of the standings after the good results of Newcastle Jets.
Riley McGree will be certainly the most dangerous players for Phoenix – the OlyRoos member has scored six times in six matches for Adelaide and is currently the second best goalscorer of the season just behind Jamie McLaren.
Riley McGree is on fire for Adelaide – Adelaide United Media
Phoenix is also in a good moment after their convicing win against Roar in the previous round – Ulises Davila scored his fourth goal in the competition while Steven Taylor had a brilliant game in the back four. Phoenix will still miss Louis Fenton due an injury in his shoulder, but his absence might not be a so big problem for Ufuk Talay due the recent very good performance of his substitute Tim Payne.
Gary Hooper might be back to the team this weekend after being out from the recent clash against Brisbane – adding firepower to a team that really need to score goals. Hooper already scored for Phoenix in the season – in the defeat against Melbourne Victory – but the fans are certainly expecting more of the marquee striker.
Taylor was instrumental for Phoenix in their first win in the season – Phoenix Media
Wellington Phoenix and Adelaide United match will kick-off at 8pm in Coopers Stadium with telecast of SkySports and worldwide streaming at MyFootball channel.
Georges Gope-Fenepej is a 31 years old footballer from New Caledonia who is playing in France since 2012. He played for Troyes, US Boulogne and SC Amiens. He is currently playing for Le Mans in Ligue 2 – the second tier of French football. He can play as a winger or a midfielder, specially in the left side.
Fenepej was hired by Troyes in 2012. He played just one match in the 2012-13 Ligue 1 season and Troyes was relegated to Ligue 2. After spending some more seasons with Troyes, including a period of time that he was loaned to US Boulogne, Gope-Fenepej came to SC Amiens in the Championnat National, the third tier of football in France.
He live some good moments with SC Amiens. They were promoted to Ligue 2 in 2016 and then promoted to Ligue 1 in 2017, a meteoric rise for Les Licornes. Gope-Fenepej did not have many opportunities in Ligue 1, playing just 44 minutes in three matches.
Fenepej playing for Amiens.
After his second experience in Ligue 1 – he played the top flight of French football with Troyes in 2012/13 – Fenepej decided to take a step back and signed with Le Mans, a traditional club that was in the third division.
He was being an important player for Le Mans in the 2018-19 season until he got injured. Le Mans was promoted to Ligue 2 and Gope-Fenepej ended the season with two goals scored in thirteen matches.
In a kind of déjà-vu, he helped a team to be promoted to the second division just like he did in Amiens. After almost a year absent from Le Mans’ squad, he came back from injury to be one of the most important players of Le Mans in Ligue 2 with three goals scored in five matches.
Gope-Fenepej celebrating a goal for Le Mans.
Le Mans is currently in the 19th position of twenty teams in Ligue 2. His return can be a decisive factor to save Le Mans from relegation – they won twice and drew twice in the five matches that they could count on Fenepej.
While he is in a good moment in France, he has been far from the New Caledonia National Football Team for a while – He last played for them in 2016. Gope-Fenepej is one of the greatest top scorers of all time in New Caledonia National Football Team with 15 goals in 20 matches.
After losing to Isabel United in the last matchweek, Solomon Warriors needs to win to keep up with new league leaders Henderson Eels. This weekend’s match is very propitious for them as they face Real Kakamora who is in the last position in the championship – “Last match we played well but we missed lots of chances. We learnt from our mistakes and we are looking forward for this match” said Warriors’ Ni-Vanuatu player John Alick.
HENDERSON EELS vs ISABEL UNITED
Both teams are living fantastic moments! Henderson Eels won Malaita Kings by 9-2 on Tuesday and they are the new league leaders while Isabel United won Solomon Warriors to give the lead to Henderson Eels.
Isabel United is motivated for this match. If they can beat Solomon Warriors, they may beat Henderson Eels too. However they are facing some problems for this match – “Things are going well here but we have some injured players that may miss this match” said Isabel’s player Jordan Lea’alafa.
Eels counts on a powerful attack to take the three points home – Raphael Lea’i scored ten goals in four matches so far and there are some other players living good moments like Joses Nawo and Tutizama Tanito. It may be an interesting match but Eels will probably win.
LAUGU UNITED vs MALAITA KINGS
Currently in the sixth position, Laugu has a tough challenge against fifth placed Malaita Kings. Both teams have fifteen points but Malaita Kings played twelve matches while Laugu played eleven and both teams want to finish the league in the third position – “We had a very good week. At this stage we can not lose points if we want to finish in the top three” said Laugu’s player Michael Sira.
Laugu has some favouritism for this match. Malaita Kings was thrashed by Henderson Eels on Tuesday and they are not living a good moment in the league.
GUADALCANAL vs MARIST
After beating Real Kakamora by 3-1 on Wednesday, Marist comes to this match with high expectations. Guadalcanal won just one match in the league so far and it does not seem that they are going to put Marist in trouble. A win can take Marist to the third position.
Kossa is in a bye week so they are not going to play this weekend. Oceania Football Center wishes good luck to all teams!
The intriguing case of the midfielder Maxwell Keana was scheduled to have one important part of the investigations with his testimonial that would take place this Friday (29th November) in Honiara.
The hearing of the player was postponed by Oceania Football Confederation according to SIFF Media Release. There is not yet a fixed date for the testimonial of the player that is currently playing for Kossa at Telekom S-League.
Keana (first from right) in the U16 OFC Championship – Island Sun
The midfielder sent a letter to the confederation stating he was an overaged player while playing for Solomon Islands U16 national team at U16 OFC Championship – competition that sealed the participation of Solomon Islands at FIFA U17 World Cup held in Brazil this year.
It seems the case will need more time to be solved; Oceania Football Center made a series of two articles explaining the case of Keana and possible happenings inside this case that is letting the whole nation worried. Check the Episode 1 and Episode 2 of the series.
The most important football league of the region is now close to their fifth matchweek: Auckland City retained the lead two weeks ago and now is two points clear of the current 2nd placed side Waitakere United. The Auckland City striker Myer Bevan is on fire – he scored seven goals in only four matches so far and he will hope to add more goals to his tally in his next match against Tasman United.
Waitakere United is the closest team to Auckland City in the table – they could be tied up with the Navy Blues if they had won a 10-men Eastern Suburbs in the previous matchweek – but they draw two matches in a row and now really need to taste another win to keep in the run.
Waitakere hopes to count with the efforts of its captain Sam Burfoot – Simon Harmer
Waitakere will be playing at Seddon Fields in the only match on Saturday of this round against Southern United. The team from Dunedin comes in a high for this match since they smashed at home Hamilton Wanderers by 4-0 in their last match in the season – a brace of Abdulla Al-Khalisy was enough for New Zealand Football to award him the ‘Player of the Week‘.
The first match of the Sunday will feature the Hawke’s Bay United in a good moment with three matches without a defeat and an Eastern Suburbs side hoping to grab another win, this time playing at Bluewater Stadium in Napier. Dylan de Jong scored the unique goal of his side in their previous clash against Waitakere – the Lilywhites were luck to hold the fast Waitak frontline and earn a hard fought point after losing their main striker Martin Bueno red carded at the end of the first half.
Dylan de Jong is one of the young talents of the Lilywhites – Simon Harmer
Hamilton Wanderers will come very hungry after suffering a very harsh defeat against Southern United in their previous match in the league. The club dropped into the 9th position in the standings and will really their good football displayed in their win against Eastern Suburbs in the second matchweek return when they play against Wellington Phoenix Reserves at Porrit Stadium.
The Wellington Phoenix Reserves could not hold the powerhouse Auckland City and suffered a 3-0 defeat at WestPac Stadium. The young side is at the bottom of the rankings with just one point in the run and hopes to change this reality facing a Wanderers also in a bad moment.
The former All Whites member Ricki Herbert knows Wanderers can do more – NZF Media
Team Wellington is having a very frustrating start with season with just one win in four matches. TeeDubs coach Scott Hales stated that the need to learn from their last defeat against Tasman United in Nelson and not allow the same mistakes to happen again. The side will be playing at David Farrington Park against the Lee Padmore coached side Canterbury United – both sides have the same amount points in the table, five.
Despite the good record of Hamish Watson in the league – four goals in four games – the striker did not score in the previous match of Team Wellington. The important returns of Mario Barcia and Justin Gulley to Team Wellington are still to have the effects expected by the fans.
Canterbury United draw the last two games against Waitakere United and Hawke’s Bay, just winning one match in the season – a 2-1 win against Southern at home. Aaron Clapham and his team will be looking to jump in the table with an important against his former club Team Wellington to be closer to the top of the table.
Hamish Watson scored four goals in the league this season – TU Media
The last match of the round will see the giants Auckland City facing Tasman United at Kiwitea Street. Tasman just recorded their first goal and victory of the competition against Team Wellington in the previous round while the Navy Blues won two matches in a row – 5-0 and 3-0 against Hamilton Wanderers and Wellington Phoenix Reserves respectively.
Tasman got a relief to have their first points in the table to leave the bottom of the standings. Auckland needs a win to maintain their lead that is now of only two points over Waitakere United. The strikers Myer Bevan and Logan Rogerson might be the biggest threat for a good defensive system created by the coach Jess Ibrom – defensive system that worked very well in their win against Team Wellington.
Auckland City hopes to keep their good campaign against Tasman – NZF Media
You can check the actual complete standings of the ISPS Handa Premiership and the top goalscorers by clicking here.
The Oceania representants in the FIFA Clubs World Cup Hienghène Sport departed today – 29th November – to Doha, Qatar where they will playing against the local champions Al-Sadd in the first round of the tournament. It is a do-or-die match for the OFC Champions League winners – a win would create history for the New Caledonians and make them proceed to the quarterfinals to face Monterrey from Mexico (CONCACAF Champions League winners) and a defeat would see Hienghène already eliminated of the tournament.
Hienghène Sport delegation celebrating 2019 OFC Champions League title
Hienghène Sport is having a dream season in 2019 after winning Coupe de Calédonie, Mobil Super Ligue and the OFC Champions League. The team coached by Tahitian football legend Félix Tagawa hopes to grab an upset in the most important tournaments of the club history.
Hienghène will feature in the same competition as some powerful teams will take place, as the English giants Liverpool and the traditional Brazilian side Flamengo. The New Caledonian club is only the second non-New Zealand team to play in the competition – the first since Hekari United upset Waitakere United in the finals in the 2009/10 edition of the continental tournament. The decisive match for Hienghène Sport will take place at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium at 12th December, 2:30 local time.
The current title holders of ISPS Handa Premiership – the top-tier of football in New Zealand – Eastern Suburbs earned the national glory in the previous seaosn, but things are much more harder now and they are already feeling it. Eastern Suburbs in their first four matches in the league won two, draw one and lost one. The club is currently inside the top four zone of the league, but this is the just the starting of a tough competition.
The Lilywhites lost many of their players that helped then to lift the trophy in the last edition of the national league. The likes of Callum McCowatt and Tim Payne joined the professional outfit Wellington Phoenix and a partnership of Olé Academy with Torslanda IK from Sweden made several players from the champions squad to make their way to the Scandinavian nation.
Danny Hay, the coach from the previous season, had his success recognized and was given the spot of head coach in New Zealand national football team. For this season, Tony Readings took charge of Eastern Suburbs hoping to rebuild the team and defend the national honours.
Players as Reid Drake, Stephen Hoyle and Mohammed Awad were brought to reinforce the new squad build for the 2019/20 season of ISPS Handa Premiership. These players joined the talented full back Dylan de Jong, but none of their new players or even those who remained in the squad from the previous season had the credentials of the Uruguyan striker Martin Bueno. The South American prolific striker had a dream season with Napier City Rovers in the last New Zealand winter season, scoring in more than 20 games in a row for his side and winning the traditional Chatham Cup. Bueno, in the last edition of ISPS Handa Premiership, defended the colours of Hamilton Wanderers scoring ten goals in the season. Despite coming as the most important signing of the team for the season, Bueno almost got a deal overseas – in South African football top-tier – due his fantastic past seasons and would not be available to represent Eastern Suburbs: “I could not agree the economic budget of Polokwane. Then I went to SuperSport, played one game and scored two goals but I was supposed to sign if one of the strikers signed for Orlando Pirates – what did not happen, so I came back to New Zealand“.
Bueno (left) in the colours of Eastern Suburbs
“I think that we are doing well because we are a new team that never played together. We need a little bit of game time. This year the level is very equal so we need to play every game as a final“, says Martin Bueno regarding the start of the season of his new club. Martin also feels very open to give his impressions about his new coach Tony Readings: “I am really happy with Tony and the team as well – there are really good young players in the squad. He is a really good coach that likes to analyze the game really well. He give to us all his advice during the week to make sure that we make the less possible tactical mistakes. During the game we are free to play, create and enjoy our football“. Bueno has scored just once in the league until now – against Southern United FC – but he sees no problem with the little record: “To be honest the last year in the first four games of the season I scored one goal as well – so we need to wait to see what will happen“.
Bueno does not see much differences from the level of football players in the Central League – where he played for Napier City Rovers recently – and the ISPS Handa Premiership level: “Obviously the national league is a really good level and is getting better every year – but to be honest I do not see so a so higher level in comparison with the previous league I played. The first two games of the season I had some phisycal problems that did not help me to play well and enjoy the game. Against Southern I started to enjoy the game again and I felt really well. In the last game I was feeling really well but unfortunately I got red carded“. The red card shown to Martin Bueno in the match his side played against Waitakere United was very controversial and Bueno was really not happy with that: “I do not want to complain about the referee because I respect their job and I am not this kind of man. They take a decision because they thought that was the right the decision, but I did not elbow the opposite player – I didn’t even touch his face – he dive and grabbed his face when I touched his chest“. Martin Bueno hopes the Lilywhites can appeal to New Zealand Football to allow him to play their next match in the league.
Martin knows the expectance on him and his teammates are high due the recent success Eastern Suburbs had in the national league. – team that he is full of praise: “They made an amazing job and they really deserved it. I had the luck to work with Danny Hay for few weeks and I could see why he is the New Zealand head coach. He really deserves the All Whites role and I have no doubts that he will do an amazing job“.
The start of Bueno and Eastern Suburbs is not bad and they will have big challenges to overcome if they want to defend the honours of national champions. The ISPS Handa Premiership is not the only competition of the season for the Lilywhites – they are qualified for the OFC Champions League in 2020 and Bueno is also keen to take part of this tournament: “I do not know at the moment what will be our approach for Champions League. Our mentality now is just the next game – but obviously I think that will be a really nice and different experience“.
The next chapters of Martin Bueno and Eastern Suburbs will say what will be the outcome of their season – defending the national title and their adventure in the most important club championship of the continent.
