Oceania Football Center

U17 World Cup: When a dream comes true for Solomon Islands

Despite having some international tradition in futsal, Solomon Islands does not have a big relevance in football at international level, but this young talented generation can bring some glory to the country. The U17 National Team already made history by qualifying for 2019 U17 FIFA World Cup. Now they have the opportunity of their lives to make more and more history in Brazil and make their people proud of them.

That’s the first time ever that Solomon Islands is going to feature in a field football World Cup and there are lots of expectations sorrounding this squad. The bright football played in OFC U16 Championship opened some doors for players to leave their homeland and have some experience abroad. Three of the twenty one called up players are playing at youth level in New Zealand, something quite relevant when it comes to minor aged islanders.

Solomon Islands surprised everyone when they beat New Zealand in the U16 Championship group stage by 5-0. Since FIFA decided to secure two sports for OFC at the youth world stage tournaments, both New Zealand and Solomon Islands – teams who made the final of U16 OFC Nations Cup – qualified themselves for the U17 World Cup. In the final match they played at a good level, keeping the match drawn and losing only in the penalty shootout.

Solomon Islands players celebrating a goal in 2018 U16 OFC Championship

With this growing scenario in the background, Solomon Islands did not come to Brazil just to spend sometimes visiting one of the most beautiful countries of the world, but they are ready to face this challange and hopeful for making a decent campaign.

The U17 preparation for this World Cup started months ago when they went to Belarus to play UEFA International Development Tournament where they finished as runners-up after winning Moldova and drawing against Belarus and Kazakhstan. Great results for a Pacific Island football team.

Solomon Islands delegation in Belarus, 2019

They arrived in Brazil on 19 October (20 October in Oceania) and faced Oeste Academy in 2-all draw friendly in the last match before their debut against Italy.

KEY PLAYERS

Lea’i holding his awards in 2018 U16 OFC Championship

Raphael Lea’i is the most important player of this squad. He was the MVP and top scorer of OFC U16 Championship and he was also the topscorer of UEFA International Development Tournament held in Belarus. With so many awards he called the attention of New Zealand side Wellington Phoenix. He currently plays for Scots College at high school level but he is already linked to Nix youth academy. Last year he had a trial in Godoy Cruz from Argentina but he could not sign for them because he was just 15 years old by that time. When asked about this World Cup, Lea’i answered “We will give our best in this world cup. I believe in our current team and personally I’m in the best time of my life and I want to do my best as well.” His good pace and dribbling can help Solomon Islands to surprise their opponents.

Charlie Mani picture before departuring to Brazil

Charles Mani is another player that is on a scholarship on New Zealand at Long Bay College. He is linked to Glenfield Rovers, a team that competes in the Lotto NRFL Premier League. Mani has a huge responsibility on this team once he is the one who carries the captain armbrand. He scored four goals in OFC U16 Championship ending the tournament as the second Solomon Islands top scorer right after Raphael Lea’i. His inspiration comes from Brazil: “Neymar is my favourite player. He’s really skilful and a joy to watch. I love to make people happy when I play.” said Mani to Raw Sports Newspaper.

Leon Kofana official picture for U17 World Cup

Leon Kofana is the most important player of Solomon Islands defense. He is Raphael Lea’i teammate in Scots College and he is also linked to Wellington Phoenix Academy. He has some quality with the ball and he is a physical gifted defender and it can help the Solomon Islanders against better technical teams in this World Cup. He also has good experience in Futsal just like Raphael Lea’i. Both players took part of the national futsal squad that played Youth Olympics in Argentina last year.

Another important player was Maxwell Keana but he was ruled out of the squad because he failed a medical test last month. A big loss for Solomon Islands midfield. Batram Suri’s son Aiden is also taking part of the squad. Forward Barie Limoki and defender Peteson Tongaka are the youngest players of this team, both were born in 2004.

Solomon Islands is in the Group F with Italy, Paraguay and Mexico. They are going to debut against Italy on 29 October at 7am (Solomon Islands time).

The other two matches scheduled for the team in the Group F will be against Paraguay on 1st November at 7am and Mexico on 4th November at a10am – both match times at Solomon Islands time.

Oceania Football Center will be in Kleber Andrade Stadium to watch in loco the match against Mexico. We wish good luck to Solomon Islands and hope they can really make more history in Brazil.

U17 World Cup: New Zealand looks to keep their development running

There is no doubt that New Zealand is most prominent football nation of Oceania, but at world stage the situation is far different: the Kiwis took part of only two World Cups (1982 and 2010) and produced few players that had impact at the most important football leagues. Wynton Rufer is certainly the most prominent of those that made their path to European continent – a joint topscorer of the 1993/94 UEFA Champions League for the German outfit Werder Bremen. Now a days we can remember some important names as Ryan Nelsen, Winston Reid and Chris Wood – enough to qualify the All Whites for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but not to make them go through the group stage, the same campaign as in 1982.

The new generation of the New Zealand football is looking to give steps ahead and produce more players that can compete at world stage. The recent U20 World Cup played in Poland surely can increase the hope of the New Zealand fans: the good football displayed – that ended up their participation at the Round of 16 against Colombia after a dramatic penalty shootout – by the Junior All Whites showcased their talent enough to make the Wellington Phoenix academy product Sarpreet Singh to secure a contract at the European giants FC Bayern.

This is the background the U17 New Zealand team comes for their 7th straight U17 World Cup: looking to keep New Zealand football youth development in progress. From all their eight appearances in the youth tournament, the New Zealand side could only progress to the Round of 16 three times – being beaten at all times they reached it. In the 2017 edition of the tournament, the Young All Whites could just draw against Turkey in their oppening match, but lost the remaining two for Paraguay and Mali.

New Zealand at their last U17 World Cup appearance – *Firstspot*

Being the heavy favourites to qualify for the tourament, the Kiwis did not face an easy life in Solomon Islands where the U16 OFC Nations Cup was played: they surprisingly lost for the home side at group stage by 5-0, but still were able to qualify for the semifinals. Since FIFA decided to secure two spots for OFC at the youth world stage tournaments, both New Zealand and Solomon Islands – teams who made the final of U16 OFC Nations Cup – qualified themselves for the U17 World Cup. In the final match the Kiwis could not overcome Solomon Islands in the regulation time, but won the tournament at penalty shootout.

The Young All Whites celebrates the continental title – *NZF Media*

After sealing their spot to Brazil, the side coached by the new Auckland City head coach Jose Figueira, looked to prepare themselves in order to make a tournament that can confirm the development of the football in the country.

The squad went to play in China the Panda Cup and were grouped with the home side, South Korea and Thailand. The New Zealand team had a fantastic result at their opener with a 2-0 win against the Chinese team, but the remaining two matches in the group were not what they expected: a hard 4-0 loss to South Korea, and another loss this time against Thailand by the 1-0 margin.

After the final squad for the tournament was relesead in September, the team departed for a short period of camp in Argentina, where they made two friendly matches against teams that are also taking part in the U17 World Cup – Mexico and Argentina. The first match against the Mexicans, New Zealand went down with a 2-0 defeat, but their biggest blow came against the Argentinians: the South American powerhouse demolished the Young All Whites beating them by a huge margin: 7-1.

Even with bad results, the coach Jose Figueira seemed positive and said the team learned from their mistakes and from playing with better technical teams.

New Zealand side that went down to Argentina – *NZF Media*

Figueira and their staff are confident they are bringing the best U17 talents New Zealand has for the competition – check the full New Zealand squad. The coach has good experience in the game and there is no reasons for doubting his judgement – Figueira won the 2018 OFC Champions League when coaching Team Wellington.

Key Players

The goalkeeper Alex Paulsen was selected for the U23 of New Zealand that qualified the team for the 2020 Olympics this year, this experience can add something new for the youngster that promises to be one of New Zealand best players in the tournament.

Campbell Strong can be seem as the most promising defender of this New Zealand team. The player has already experience in the current ISPS Handa Premiership winners Eastern Suburbs.

Nathan Lobo is one of the most promising young tallents of Auckland City FC. The midfielder that make more offensive duties, scored many goals for the Junior Navy Blues at youth tournaments in New Zealand.

The recent signing of Team Wellington, Marko Stamenic, promises to be the key midfielder for the Young All Whites. The playmaker has made good a winter season for Western Suburbs before signing for TeeDubs.

The Wellington Phoenix academy product Oskar van Hattum can be the most dangerous attacking player of the Kiwis. The 183cm tall striker has experience of playing in the ISPS Handa Premiership.

The New Zealand side has at their side in the Group A the hosts Brazil, Canada and their first challenge in the tournament, Angola. The Kiwis will start their campaign looking for glory this Saturday 8pm BRT – in New Zealand the match kicks-off at 12am of Sunday.

The other two matches scheduled for the team at Group A will be against Brazil on 30th October at 12am and Canada on 2nd November at 12am – both match times at New Zealand time.

Krishna scores in ATK first ISL win in the season

The Fijian international Roy Krishna after a fantastic season at Hyundai A-League for Wellington Phoenix, finnaly found the nets in his new club in India: ATK, the Kolkata based club, won their first match in the season and Krishna and his partner at Phoenix days David Williams helped to secure an important result for his side.

ATK vs Hyderabad FC — ATK players celebrate one of their goals – *Goal.com*

The Fijian captain looked always dangerous before being replaced at the 84th minute of play. The striker combined well with Javier Hernandez and David Williams in the front three to secure a comprehensive 5-0 for his new club in the Indian Super League against Hyderabad FC.

First goal of the match came from David Williams intervetion with a fantastic finishing. Williams would score also the 3rd goal of the game also in a 1vs1 situation. The other two goals of the encounter were scored by the replacement Edu Garcia in the final minutes of the game.

Krishna scored from a long-range shot that hit the post before finding the nets. The opposition goalkeeper was unable to stop the powerful shot of the Fijian.

Krishna scored the second goal of the match

Despite a defeat in their first game away from home against Kerala Blasters, ATK is one of the contenders for the ISL title in the present season. Krishna scored his first goal for the team is the 3rd most valuable player in football market to be playing in the Indian Super League.

ATK will be playing an away game in their next challenge against Chennaiyin and hope to see Krishna in his teammates in a good form as they could show in their first win of the season.

2019 Telekom S-League – Weekend Preview

Last week Solomon Warriors won Henderson Eels and set fire on the title race. Guadalcanal and Real Kakamora remain on bottom and the other teams are tangled in the middle of the table. This weekend can be a season changer because Eels is on a bye and Warriors will play its seventh match in ths league so both teams will have seven matches played after this Sunday.

LAUGU UNITED VS SOLOMON WARRIORS

Both teams won in the last round but Solomon Warriors has some special motivations after beating Henderson Eels by 4-0. They are looking for another win to get three more points and overcome Eels on the top of the table. Laugu United has a competent team and they can jump to the third place this round. Atkin Kaua is living a fantastic moment after scoring four goals against Real Kakamora but Solomon Warriors also has great scorers like Tony Kaltack who is the currently top scorer of the season. Will they beat Laugu and become the first placed team in the table? We will check it this weekend!

Solomon Warriors is living a great moment and they can jump to the first position if they beat Laugu United this weekend

GUADALCANAL VS REAL KAKAMORA

One of them (or both if they draw) will finally leave the zero behind. Real Kakamora lives a “better” moment than Guadalcanal and they have some favoritism for this game. Guadalcanal last scored on 5 October against Marist while Real Kakamora scored twice last week against Laugu United. Both teams do not have big aspirations in this S-League and not being the last placed team must be enough for them.

KOSSA VS ISABEL UNITED

That is an important match in the middle of the table. Isabel United beat Guadalcanal last round by 8-0 while Kossa did not play because they have eight players and their head coach currently representing Solomon Islands National Teams. So it would not be surprising if we see this match being postponed. Anyway, Kossa has a stronger team but Isabel counts on Bently Kelobi who is living such a great moment in the league scoring nine goals so far in this S-League edition.

MARIST VS MALAITA KINGZ

Third place Malita Kingz keeps an eye on Eels and Warriors even being some points behind them. So if they want to keep dreaming on a Champions League spot they must win this match against Marist that current lives a bad moment in the season. This is also an important game for Marist if they want to recover in the championship because they can jump three positions to the fourth place depending on this round results. Can Frank Foli lead Marist to a win or they are going to bitter another loss?

Malaita Kingz eyes a 2020 OFC Champions League spot

Hienghène one draw away from Mobil Super Ligue title

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For the first time in New Caledonian football history we can see in this weekend a local team winning all competitions they played in a season: Hienghène Sport already added the honours of OFC Champions League and Coupe de Calédonie and this Sunday they will be seeking the Mobil Super Ligue title – they are just one draw away to make their dream season complete.

AS Magenta and Hienghène Sport are clearly in another level: both sides contest for the title. The remaining eight teams are very close in the table: the distance for the 3rd placed side AS Wetr to the last placed team in the table is only of 9 points – and for the 8th place is only two points of difference – with just three rounds remaining. It is also important to remember that Mobil Super Ligue does not use the commom points rule: 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 1 point for a defeat are the rules used in the league.

Nenhuma descrição de foto disponível. — Current Standins at Mobil Super Ligue – *MSL Media*

The common round is composed entirely by matches played at Saturday, but due a cycling competition in the New Caledonia capital city, three important matches were postponed and will be played at the Sunday – including the decisive match for Hienghéne Sport.

Horizon Patho – Ne Drehu

Horizon Patho and Ne Drehu distance is just of one point; both teams will have a decisive encounter in this round for their fate in the league: who wins turn into a contender for the 3rd place spot, who loses can be challenge by Trio Kedeigne and ES Wacaele in the relegation playoff and direct relegation spots respectively – 9th and 10th places.

Stade de La Roche will see a hard battle and Horizon Patho will look a lot on his young defender Jean-Baptiste Caroine to deal with Ne Drehu attack. The 19-year old midfielder Pierre Wawia also will be key for the home side looking for a win.

Ne Drehu, the Jean-Marc Case coached side, will count with the young winger and former U17 New Caledonian international Lionnel Thanaena and the experienced goalkeeper Michel Hne.

A imagem pode conter: uma ou mais pessoas e atividades ao ar livre — Horizon Patho will face Ne Drehu this Saturday – *MSL Media*

Trio Kedeigne – ES Wacaele

Stade Hnasse in Lifou will be the venue for maybe the second most important match of the round: Trio Kedeigne, the current 9th placed team, and ES Wacaele that stands at the bottom of the standings. A win for Trio would be a disaster for Wacaele: they would see them fly away and give them slight chances to escape from a direct relegation to Ligue 2, while a win for Wacaele would obligate Trio Kedeigne to fight much more harder to avoid a relegation – since they would drop to the last position.

Trio can count with the experience of their number 10 and captain Leon Tain and with their important forward Jordan Wetria, that scored already seven times in the league this season. Wacaele will put their hopes in Nemia Nemia, their best offensive player and in the goalkeeper Bernard Cawidrone.

AS Mont-Dore – Tiga Sport

Cédric Decoire and AS Mont-Dore certainly will not be happy with their performance in the Mobil Super Ligue this season. The red and white team almost got a OFC Champions League spot last season falling short for Hienghène Sport in the stadings, but this season they could not challenge the two most important teams of New Caledonia currently. The first match of the Sunday will see Decoire and the striker Raphaël Oiremoin facing Tiga Sport. The New Caledonian international will guide Mont-Dore in the midfield looking for Oiremoin in the attack.

Tiga Sport will hope that Lues Waya keeps his prolific goalscoring form – already scored eight goals in the league – to help them in this clash against AS Mont-Dore at Stade Numa Daly. Emmanuel Hmaen is another player Mont-Dore need to take care, the forward already scored five times for his side.

AS Lössi – AS Wetr

After falling in the final match of Coupe de Calédonie for Hienghène Sport, Lössi looks back to Mobil Super Ligue final matches to improve their dissapoint performance in the league for 2019 season. Fonzy Ranchain is the key offensive player for the team, already scoring five times in the competition. The New Caledonian international Pierre Kauma will be the most important defender for Lössi while they expect to collect all points from the clash to advance in the table.

AS Wetr is surprising in the season and stands currently at the 3rd place. Eugene Sakilia is the key man for the white and blue club scoring already six times in the competition. The striker has shown good pace and skills in the competition. Lössi will also need to be careful with Wetr number 10, Christopher Wacalie that scored already three times in the competition.

AS Magenta – Hienghène Sport

The most important of the weekend in New Caledonia will be the last to be played. Stade Numa Daly will see the fourth encounter of Hienghène Sport against Magenta – and the previous three were won by the Hienghène-based club.

A draw or a win for Hienghène will mean one more trophy to their season since Magenta will not be able to reach them with two matches remaining in the league. Magenta, if they still want the title, need a win to reduce the seven point margin to four – Hienghène Sport still did not lose in the league, their encounter in the first round of Mobil Super Ligue at Stade de Hienghène ended up in 3-1 win by the locals.

Magenta will not have an easy task: Jean-Philippe Saiko departed to play in New Zealand and their topscorer in the season, Richard Sele, will not play the match due an injury. The home side will look for Kevin Nemia and Nathanael Hmaen in order to score the necessary goals for the team, while defensively Jean Brice Wadriako and Gaeton Gope-Iwate will be key to stop the powerful attack of Hienghène Sport: Antoine Roine, Antony Käi, Brice Dahite and the top goalscorer of the Mobil Super Ligue until now with 13 goals scored, Bertrand Käi.

A imagem pode conter: 2 pessoas, pessoas sorrindo, pessoas em pé e atividades ao ar livre — Hienghène will be looking to secure their 3rd title in the season – *MSL Media*

Two matches will be telecasted by Caledonia TV and you can follow all movements of AS Lössi vs. AS Wetr and the decisive match of AS Magenta vs. Hienghène live at their YouTube Channel.

2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup – Guide

OFC Futsal Nations Cup begins on Sunday in Nouméa, New Caledonia. Eight countries will fight for the title and a spot in 2020 FIFA Futsal World Cup that will be held in Lithuania.

OFC Futsal Nations Cup trophy – *OFC media*

While Solomon Islands is the current champion and won the tournament for five times, some other countries like Tonga and American Samoa are debuting in the competition.

You can check the Group Stage schedule in the picture below:

Oceania Football Center prepared a special tournament’s guide to inform all what is necessary to know about the National Teams taking part in the competition. You can check each team’s info by clicking in their respective banners below:

GROUP A

GROUP B

Jean-Philippe Saiko: making New Caledonia proud

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New Caledonian football reached a lot of important achievements in the recent history of Oceania football: played their first FIFA tournament in the 2017 edition of U17 World Cup held India, reached the finals of OFC Nations Cup 2012 and the semifinals of the last edition in 2017, earned the silver medal losing for New Zealand in the last Pacific Games held in Samoa and – the most prominent of these – saw their Hienghène Sport to win the 2019 OFC Champions League. We have to admit: New Caledonia football is stepping ahead – and they are being fast.

The likes of Cesar Zéoula at SC Schiltigheim and Georges Gope-Fenepej at Le Mans FC showing their talents in the European continent can add more honours to what the Kanaks had done to improve their football recently. Not only these two are currently playing their club football in the most developed football continent coming from New Caledonia – various others can be seem in the last call-ups made by Thierry Sardo, the Cagous head coach

Jean-Philippe Saiko is one of those who departed early their home nation to make them proud through football. Jean-Philippe already scored 11 times in just 9 matches played for his country, an impressive mark that shows the quality of the striker that recently signed for Tasman United in New Zealand’s top flight ISPS Handa Premiership.

Resultado de imagem para Jean-Philippe Saiko — Saiko new club announcement – *Tasman United media*

“Since my arrival on Nelson, I have been preparing myself a lot physically, our training sessions are intensive compared to the training I was able to get in New Caledonia“, says Jean-Philippe. “I train hard because I know that the level of play in New Zealand is a little higher than in New Caledonia, even though I have had 7 years of experience in France”, complete the New Caledonian international.

The seven years of experience he mentions in the French minor leagues were in the Championnat National 3, the fifth tier – six years with Poitiers FC – and the Division D’Houner, the sixth tier, playing one year with CS Neuville.

Saiko seems excited about the chance to play at New Zealand top football league: “The ISPS Handa Championship will really be an opportunity for me to be even better on the field”. The striker signed for the Nelson-based club after a short stint at AS Magenta, the current Mobil Super Ligue – the New Caledonian first league – champions. The player says he returned his home country after his girlfriend decided to get back from France to New Caledonia after studying in the European nation. “I was already playing with Magenta before going to France so I came back to play with Magenta“, explains the player.

Saiko agrees the football level in France is higher than in New Caledonia and the football played in New Zealand is more phyisical, but despite of this he sees a bright future for some young talents back in his nation: “There are many young players in New Caledonia who have the ability to go and play in France, now there is still the problem of sending them to France and following them. They are very young and it is hard for them to live far from their families”.

The striker also adds the biggest problem for the New Caledonians game is the physical area due the semi-pro level of football in the nation: “The problem in New Caledonia is that players are not paid, so it is not a priority for players to go to training every day. To go work out or run outside of training“. Jean-Philippe completes his speech saying that in New Zealand there are experienced coaches as Jess Ibrom – his head coach in Tasman United – that imposes good physical trainings and with his knowledge helps the players to develop in this part of the game – “In New Zealand football becomes a profession because you have a salary, they offer you a job, we have advantages that we don’t have in New Caledonia”, says the new signing of Tasman United.

Despite the problems mentioned by Jean-Philippe Saiko, New Caledonia made a very good tournament in the last edition of Pacific Games, counting with the quality of players like Bertrand Kaï, Richard Sele and Rocky Nyikeine – just losing in the golden medal match against New Zealand U23 side.

“We lost the final against New Zealand, but we led 1-0. We didn’t lose any games and we didn’t concede any goals before we played in the final. The weather was not favourable, the terrain was muddy and we were tired too. The New Zealanders scored 2 goals from set-pieces in the last minutes and that’s what hurt us, but New Zealand had a good level of play and a high morale that we didn’t necessarily had“, explains the New Caledonian international. “I think if we can count with the players in Europe as Gope-Fenepej and Zéoula in a near future we can beat New Zealand”, adds an optmistic Jean-Philippe Saiko.

Saiko and his new club Tasman United will start their 2019/20 season at ISPS Handa Premiership playing in Trafalgar Park, their home ground, against Southern United next 2nd November.

FIFA releases new Club World Cup and abolishes Confederations Cup

FIFA officialy announced that the Club World Cup will be changed in 2021. The new competition will be played by 24 teams each 4 years. China were unanimously chosen today as the hosts of the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup edition by FIFA Council at their meeting in Shanghai, China. They also confirmed the end of FIFA Confederations Cup that last happened in 2017.

The new Club World Cup will be played by 24 teams split in eight groups of three teams each.

The slot allocation was also confirmed today and you can check below:
Europe (UEFA) – 8 spots
South America (CONMEBOL) – 6 spots
Africa (CAF) – 3 spots
North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) – 3 spots
Asia (AFC) – 1 spot
Oceania (OFC) – 0,5 spot
Host Nation – 0,5 spot

Each confederation will decide the classification criteria and release this information soon.

Just like FIFA World Cup, Oceania will not have a direct spot in the FIFA Club World Cup. There will be a play-off match between a host nation team and an Oceanic team to decide the 24th spot in the championship group stage.

The competition is scheduled to be played between 17 June and 4 July in 2021 in the calendar spot used for FIFA Confederations Cup.

Port Vila Premier League – Week 3 Preview

Port Vila Premier League third round begins on this Friday with a match between Tafea and Mauwia. Oceania Football Center brings a preview for the weekend’s round in Vanuatu!

TAFEA VS MAUWIA

After winning the two initial matches, Tafea comes strong to win the third in a row. Mauwia tries to recover from a heavy 10-0 loss to Galaxy but it does not seem they are going to make some points this round. Tafea forward Jordy Tasip scored in the previous two matches and it is not going to be a surprise if he score again this weekend.

IFIRA BLACK BIRD VS SIA-RAGA

Ifira Black Bird and Sia-Raga have the necessary to make a good game this weekend despite Ifira being the favourites in theory after holding strong Erakor Golden Star to a 0-0 draw. Newly promoted Sia-Raga already showed they are not in Premier League for tourism and it is going to be a good challenge for Ifira BB.

Ifira Black Bird squad against Erakor Golden Star

TUPUJI IMERE VS YATEL

Last week Yatel proved that can be a competitive team after a tough loss to Tafea. This match is very important for both teams because they are tied on bottom with zero points. Can Tupuji Imere score its first goal in the competition against Yatel? Will Yatel be a threat for them? Will someone take three points home? Let’s check it on Saturday!

GALAXY VS ERAKOR GOLDEN STAR

For the first time in this Premier League Galaxy is not going to flog a dead horse. Erakor Golden Star has a good squad and can be a dangerous opponent for the Blues with a good defense. Will Kensy Tangis and James Naka be able to lead Galaxy’s attack for another win?

Toti City changes name again

Lae City Dwellers changed its name to Toti City two years ago. Now Papua New Guinean team is changing its name again to Lae City FC (without Dwellers).

This change was made because OFC & FIFA would not accept Toti City FC at OFC Champions League tournament because Toti is a brand name.

Toti City won the 2019 National Soccer League after beating Hekari United in the penalty kicks in the final match. They have some important players that are also part of PNG National Team like Raymond Gunemba, Robert Warisan and Nigel Dabinyaba.

In the last Champions League Toti lost to Auckland City in the quarter finals after a 4-0 loss.

Toti City players celebrating 2019 National Soccer League title

Lae City Dwellers/Toti City won the last five editions of Papua New Guinea Soccer League.