Oceania Football Center

James Egeta: putting a smile in Solomon Islanders face

James Egeta is an important players of Solomon Islands National Futsal Team. The 29 years old player already played three Futsal World Cups (2008, 2012 and 2016) and will probably play his fourth in 2020. He started his career more than ten years ago and he played his first Futsal World Cup with just 18 years old in 2008.

Currently living in Brisbane, Egeta plays futsal in Australia, a country that has a good futsal culture. Kurukuru also made its preparation for 2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup in Australia where they played against local teams and faced Futsalroos (Australia National Futsal Team) twice. The difference of level between Australia and the best OFC countries in futsal are not that big but it can be felt not only in the players’ quality but also in the infrastructure – “Futsal in Australia got high quality in terms of good facilities, international court size and players training under good coaches […] in Solomon Islands there is no proper court to train in and there is no good facilities to support the training” said Egeta.

James Egeta playing for Solomon Islands National Futsal Team in 2016

He took part of the Kurukuru squad that won OFC Futsal Nations Cup for the sixth time ever after beating New Zealad in penalties to qualify for 2020 World Cup. Egeta scored two goals in the competition, one against Fiji in the group stage and the another one in the final match against New Zealand. “I felt excited because it is going to be my fourth time in World Cup. I made my country proud and we put a smile on people’s face and we really need it. Our nation is being through a lot of things and this title is something that brings joy to every single person in the country and it makes me happy. I am not talking that people is suffering, what I mean is that our federation has been through hard times in terms of national football teams. We lost Pacific Games, beach soccer lost in World Cup qualifying and U17 National Team lost all three matches in FIFA U17 World Cup. So our victory brought a smile and hopes to people” he stated.

Egeta (left holding the trophy) celebrating 2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup title

Egeta has an unique opportunity to play his fourth Futsal World Cup and he is very excited because of it but he also pointed that the journey has not been easy “New Zealand improved a lot and we need to work the extra mile to remain as Futsal Kings in Oceania. The final match against them was a great challenge. We missed lots of goal chances during the regular time so we had to end up with penalties”.

With all this experience and titles, Egeta is surely one of the greatest futsal players of Solomon Islands like George Stevenson and Elliot Ragomo. A true legend!

The decisive weekend for Mobil Super Ligue

🇫🇷 Lire en français ici

After seventeen rounds the Mobil Super Ligue will have its decisive matches this Saturday (09/11) and Sunday (10/11) to decide which club will lift the trophy of the top-tier of football in New Caledonia and which ones will be relegated to the second tier.

The current champions AS Magenta has real chances to defend their honour this season and end the season in fashion after failling to beat their rivals Hienghène Sport in the OFC Champions League grand final and in the Coupe de Calédonie quarter-finals. Hienghène Sport looks to complete their seaon of dream with a treble, after lifting their most important title ever – OFC Champions League – and the Coupe de Calédonie for the third time in the club history.

Unfortunately for Hienghène, they lost two opportunities to seal the title in the previous two matches they had in Mobil Super Ligue: they lost their first and unique match in the competition for rivals Magenta and draw against Tiga Sport in the last weekened to maintain a chance for Magenta to reach them in the table.

The current standings and 18th round matches for Mobil Super Ligue – *MSL Media*

FCF – the Football Federation of New Caledonia – decided to not test the hearts of the fans in this decisive round: we will already know whether Magenta will have a chance to lift the trophy or not at Saturday noon after Horizon Patho faces Hienghène Sport in Maré. If the the locals can beat Hyehen in the Stade de la Roche, Magenta will need to win also away from home, but in Stade de Hnasse in Lifou on Sunday, Trio Kedeigne. If the current Oceania champions can avoid a defeat, they will be celebrating their third title in the season.

Despite managing to keep to alive in the title run, the historical club from Nouméa still have a very hard to task to complete if they want to have the national glory once again. All odds are against Magenta: Horizon Patho, the opponent of their rivals Hienghène Sport, has nothing to battle for – they can not reach the 3rd place and they are already guaranteed in the top tier next season since they can not be reached by any club in the relegation playoff or direct zone. Differently, Trio Kedeigne will have their last shot to avoid direct relegation against AS Magenta in front of their fans and they will be desperately seeking for a win, hoping their top scorer Jordan Wetria can put some magic for the Lifou based team.

Hienghène will have their full force against Horizon Patho – *MSL Media*

Tiga Sport and AS Wetr will be both trying to reach the 3rd placed club SC Ne Drehu – hoping to finish the season as the best club in New Caledonia if we agree AS Magenta and Hienghène Sport are at a very higher level than any other side in the country. The same battle will be in contest when SC Ne Drehu plays at home AS Mont-Dore, the Mont-Doreans could finally grab all points in their last match and are hoping to finish the season in fashion. The white-orange club from Lifou, SC Ne Drehu, is doing a very good season by their expectations and their chance to guarantee their third place in the league will be this last match against Mont-Dore counting with the support of their fans.

AS Lössi also expects that the mathematics help them to finish at 3rd, but they will be having a desperate ES Wacaele playing in Stade Numa Daly as their opponents. Wacaele knows the match Trio Kedeigne vs AS Mont-Dore is still in dispute in the FCF Referee Council and their rivals in the battle against relegation can have more points in the table than they have actually despite they can not grab a positive result against AS Magenta this round. A win would be instrumental for ES Wacaele in their fight, putting all pressure in Trio Kedeigne for their last match against a still possible title contender AS Magenta. The 9th placed side will play the relegation play-off against a club to be determined from the 2nd tier in New Caledonia, while the bottom ranked club will be directly relegated to the second tier.

A very exciting football weekend is about to start in New Caledonia, the last moments of the football season are coming and surely all fans are looking for their stars to bring the best possible income they can for their home grounds. The matches of AS Lössi – ES Wacaele and Tiga Sport – AS Wetr will be streamed by the local TV station TV Caledonia – you can watch these matches at their channel in YouTube.

Tupuji Imere adds two former Vaum midfielders

Tupuji Imere, one of the most traditional teams from Port Vila, is not having a good start of season in the PVFA Premier League. Despite winning the Port Vila edition of Independence Cup before the start of the league, the team just won one of their four matches in the top tier of football in Vanuatu capital and it is certainly not what their fans are expecting. The quality of Tupuji Imere really can put them as one of the contenders for the title, but this is not what is happening: players as Michel Coulon, Elkington Molivakurua and Rodney Serveux – all with international experience, could surely help his side to do better.

The team Mele village decided to look for reinforcements for their squad and they found in Luganville: with the end of Luganville Premier League that had current Vanuatu National Soccer League winners Malampa Revivors as champions, many important players could make a move in the transfer window to Port Vila. Two important midfielders from Vaum United FC – one of the most important teams of LFA Premier League – are now joining Tupuji Imere: they are Mahit Ollie and John Welwel Dick.

A imagem pode conter: 2 pessoas, pessoas em pÃ© — Ollie and Welwel Dick presenting at Tupuji Imere – *Vanuatu Sport*

Mahit recently played for Malampa Revivors in their campaign at OFC Champions League in loan from his Vaum United. The 25-year old offensive midfielder can surely bring a lot of firepower to the team coached by Vanuatu football legend David Chilia – he was the captain of Vaum United before his departure. John Welwel Dick also plays at midfield position and also played an important role at Vaum in their recent participation at LFA Premier League in the second biggest city of Vanuatu, Luganville in Espiritu Santo island. The midfielder is 22 years old.

Both players come on loan from Vaum to the PVFA Premier League club and might return to the Luganville club after the end of the season in Port Vila. The transfer was accepted by VFF on 7th November according to source Vanuatu Sport. The players will already debut for Tupuji Imere in their next match in the league.

Solomon Islands faced proven quality at U17 World Cup

Solomon Islands U17 National Team ended their participation in 2019 U17 FIFA World Cup with three losses in three matches. They were criticized by many people in their homeland but they really did their best.

They were in a very hard group with Italy, Mexico and Paraguay, three strong teams that are currently in the quarter finals of the World Cup.

Italy is the current U17 European runner-up. They won Ecuador in a very tough match and now they are going to face hosts Brazil in the quarter finals. Paraguay overcame Argentina in a breathtaking match and now they will face current european champions Netherlands. Mexico has beaten Japan easily and they are going to play against South Korea in the next stage.

Three of the eight remaining teams are from the same group (Group F) and these three national teams have the possibility to advance through semifinals. It shows that Solomon Islands really had the opportunity to play three matches against the best teams in this World Cup.

While Solomon Islands made its first appearence in a 11-a-side football World Cup, Italy won four World Cups. Mexico already won U17 FIFA World Cup twice and Paraguay always reach the world stage even playing against top teams like Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

Mexican players celebrating their win against Japan in U17 World Cup

Solomon Islands players play in New Zealand or in local top teams like Henderson Eels, Solomon Warriors and Kossa, but it is a very low standard compared to top countries. Italy has players from Milan, Internazionale and Juventus academies, three of the best teams in the world. Mexico has good tradition when it comes to youth football and they have many players that already play football at senior professional level so they already play in a level that does not exist in Oceania. Some Paraguayan players also play at professional level. It is a huge gap between these three national teams and Solomon Islands.

The difference is not only at club level, but at international level too. UEFA and CONMEBOL are far way stronger and more developed than OFC. Italy and Paraguay always play football at a high level because they are pushed into it against another great National Teams. CONCACAF is a bit weaker but Mexico also has the opportunity to qualify for many World Cups so it makes them much more prepared than OFC countries at world level.

Of course there are plenty of room for development in the country’s football but people must stop over-criticizing the U17 National Team.

Raphael Lea’i strengthens Henderson Eels squad; Leon Kofana addition is a possibility

FIFA U17 World Cup is over for Solomon Islands and the players are already back to their homeland. Despite the age most of them are playing in Telekom S-League like Derick Taebo, Javin Wae, Barrie Limoki and Pateson Tongaka. There will be some more U17 players in the Telekom S-League second round because Henderson Eels will count on Raphael Lea’i and for the rest of the championship.

He is living in New Zealand after receiving a scholarship to study in Scots College but he is currently on a scholar break. Oncehe just came back from World Cup he is already in Solomon Islands and ready to debut for Henderson Eels.

When Eels head coach Eddie Marahare announced that Raphael Lea’i would play for Henderson Eels, he was criticized by local people but he came up to the media to clarify: “Raphael Lea’i kindly asked if he could join Eels during this break to engage in competitive soccer while waiting to return for his scholarship. His engagement is only for the second round of Telekom S-League. We respect his scholarship and would not stand in any way to stop other offers that he may have secured during the world cup to further his career.”

Marahare also talked to Oceania Football Center about the recent signing of his side: “He did not score in the World Cup, so I am sure he is eager to score goals in S-League to prove his quality” he said. Le’ai is one of the most promising islanders players. He was 2018 OFC U16 Championship’s MVP and Top Scorer helping Solomon Islands to qualify for 2019 U17 World Cup.

Image result for raphael le'ai — Raphael Lea’i playing for his nation in U17 FIFA World Cup – *FIFA*

It is also being reported that Leon Kofana may join Lea’i and play for Henderson Eels in Telekom S-League’s second round but it is not confirmed yet. Oceania Football Center is investigating it to bring the most accurate information for you readers. Kofana is also in New Zealand studying at Scots College and he is the most important defensive player of Solomon Islands U17 National Team.

Leon Kofana playing for Solomon Islands U16 in 2018

It is also important to mention that, in accordance to the FIFA regulations, Lea’i can not play in any overseas based football club until his 18th anniversary – so he is still stuck with only domestic league options while his school football does not resume.

Henderson Eels is currently in the second position in the league just one point behind Solomon Warriors – “The title is the ultimate aim, we prefer to think game by game”, said Marahare. The addition of a very important player may boost their chances in the hunt of the first placed team that currently is Solomon Warriors.

The Tahitian AS Vénus is ready for the 7th round of the Coupe de France

🇫🇷 En français ici

Here we are! The Fédération Française de Football called the AS Venus for the 7th round of the Coupe de France. The game will be done saturday the 16th of November. The AS Venus, which is the current Champion of Ligue Vini 1, will face le Racing Besançon, which is actually 6th in National 3, the fift divion of french fooball. Their current coach is Jean-Marc TRINITA.

The Racing Besançon is the second most important team in France-Compte region, after Sochaux FC. It’s actually the team which holds the record of consecutives seasons in D2: 41 seasons with 1428 matches. The 1st of July 1986 the RCFC (Racing Club Franc-Comtois Besançon) became the actually BRC (Besançon Racing Club). It’s playing in the Léo Legrange stadium. This man needs some words. He was a very important man in french history. He was born in Bourg-sur-Gironde the 28th november 1900 and he grew in scouting associations. Then he took part in the Front Populaire governement (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Front_(France) with the charge of deputy minister in Sport and leisure. He was a socialist who really belevies in young people and freedom. He died the day the nazists invaded french defending armed his land. So it’s very rimarkable that a stadium it’s entitled to him.

(Léo Legrange when he was Deputy Minister)

But let’s describe our preferred team, The AS Vénus. It’s a very old club, founded in 1945 in Mahina, in Ile du Vent which are of the 5 groups of islands of the Polynesians Islands. The As Vénus is the second most important tahitian club after AS Central Sport. It won 2 Ligue 1 Vini titles and 8 Coupe de Polynésie. It also won 3 times the OFC Champions League and its qualified for the 2020 edition. After 5 rounds of the Ligue 1 Vini, As Venus, it’s a the first position in the championship.

(from https://www.facebook.com/venusfootball/ )

The game will be played at the Stade Pater Te Hono Nui in Pirae, Tahiti. It’s the tahitian national stadium and 15.000 can assist the match. We all really hope that AS Venus can bring home a win and go straight on in the Coupe de France!

Telekom S-League second round begins this weekend!

Half of the season is past and now S-League is coming to its end. The transfer window is open and all teams are looking for new players to strengthen their squads. This gameweek also marks the return of U17 National Team players that came back home this week after playing World Cup in Brazil but they probably will not play this weekend because they need some rest after a long trip way back home.

Let’s check the weekend matches!

MARIST vs SOLOMON WARRIORS

Marist ended the first round of the league in the fifth position and it may be disappointing for their supporters. They now have a very difficult match against Solomon Warriors and the expectations are really high among the current leader’s players. “Win” – that was the answer of John Alick when asked about Warriors’ expectations for this match. Solomon Warriors has a very strong side and they really need to win and win if they really want to end the season as the league champions but they are also aware that Marist can be a hard challenge for them – “Second round starts this weekend, it is a must win for us against Marist to remain on top of the table. But it is not easy to beat them. So this week we really worked hard for this match […] All teams work hard to keep Warriors from not to score. So it is not easy to beat them. We must work really hard to beat them.” said Gibson Daudau.

Jerry Donga (in red) playing against Kossa

MALAITA KINGZ vs REAL KAKAMORA

Malaita Kingz made one of the biggest deals of this transfer window when they announced Nigel Dabinyaba as their new player. Dabinyaba is one of the best players from Papua New Guinea and he will play with his countrymen Emmanuel Simon and Michael Foster. Real Kakamora lost all their seven matches so far in the league and they probably will not win against Kingz.

GUADALCANAL vs LAUGU UNITED

Laugu United is back to the top of Solomon Islands’ football after some years in absence. They had a competent first round winning three of their eight matches to be the sixth placed team in the table. Laugu signed many players for the league’s continuity. Guadalcanal won only one match in the first round and they need to add some quality to the squad if they want to be a competitive side in the S-League. Despite the difference of level between both teams, Laugu United topscorer Atkin Kaua advised “We are not going to take this game lightly. We have some new inclusions in our current squad and our preparation for this match is fine. We aim three points from this match.“

Laugu United (in black) players celebrating a goal

KOSSA vs HENDERSON EELS

Henderson Eels is another team that comes stronger for the second round with some players coming back from U17 World Cup and some great players joining the club like Raphael Lea’i and Leon Kofana that are on vacation from school. Anyway these young players that defended Solomon Islands in the World Cup are not supposed to face Kossa initially – “We are not training yet, we are having a little rest […] We start training next week” said right back Derick Taebo. They will face a good Kossa FC that had many players involved in the U17 World Cup. Despite the good opponent, Henderson Eels’ players know this match is very important and they need to win if they want to keep up with Solomon Warriors on the top of the table – “We believe in each player that we can do it this weekend” said Patrick Taroga but they are prepared for this weekend’s challenge “I am confident of a positive result tomorrow. While the title is the ultimate aim, we prefer to think game by game“. said Eels’ coach Eddie Marahare. Kossa played only six matches so far because they had some matches postponed due to U17 World Cup so they will have the opportunity to take the third position with some distance to the fourth and fifth placed teams if they win the catch-up games.

Henderson Eels (in green) playing against Isabel United

Oceania Football center wishes good luck to all teams!

Clash of titans shakes Port Vila Premier League weekend

Port Vila Premier League is arriving to its fifth gameweek and there will be some important matches this weekend, including a huge clash of titans between Tafea and Galaxy. Scroll down and read Oceania Football Center’s preview for this round!

MAUWIA vs ERAKOR GOLDEN STAR

Erakor Golden Star comes to this game with high expectations after drawing against title contenders Galaxy and Tafea while Mauwia must bitter another loss to remain on the bottom of the table with zero points. That is a good opportunity for Erakor to boost their goal debit to fight for the league’s title. Despite the favouritism, Erakor’s coach Kalo Noel Benjamin is aware of the importance of respecting the opponent: “Our current team is young. Our aim is helping them into real games and progress. The lads improved a lot in the past few games. We always treat every game as a final. Mauwia is a football team and we are prepared as always” he stated.

Erakor Golden Star starting eleven against Tafea

IFIRA BLACK BIRD vs TUPUJI IMERE

After conquering their first win of the season Tupuji Imere may finally find the right path to fight for the first positions and now they have a tough challenge against unbeaten Ifira Black Bird on Saturday. Ifira has the possibility to take the lead of the championship after this weekend if they win so they also need to cheer for a Tafea loss or draw against Galaxy and winning the league is a goal for them “We want to qualify the for Oceania Champions League […] Tupuji is not an easy opponent. We know they want to win and we are prepared to face them” said Ifira BB player Jonathan Spokeyjack.

SIA-RAGA vs YATEL

Sia-Raga contradicted the predictions after beating Galaxy by 1-0 last weekend showing that they can be a very competitive team and fight for something this season – “Confidence, strength, pride and joy are the feelings that grew out inside each and everyone of us after beating Galaxy. This win gave us power, raised our morale!” said Sia-Raga player George Wassington . They now have an important match against Yatel that is also trying to prove themselves as a competitive side in this championship. Sia-Raga staff is happy because they won Galaxy but they also know the championship goes on and they need to be focused on every game “The win against Galaxy FC last weekend was not an accident and it was big step forward for us in this league. The boys trained really hard defensively to face them. We carried out the training necessary to play a well organised and experienced Galaxy side. We are not only wanting to win games, but we train hard and change the table tally in a big way. We respect Galaxy FC as they are preparing towards the 2020 Oceania Champions League matches that are coming up so we wanted to give a good challenge to them. The preparation for this weekend’s game was good as Sia-Raga FC will be looking forward to face Yatel FC. We will play the game for 90 minutes, we don’t underestimate any team as they are also fighting strong for points. Despite having majority of students in the team which are sitting their exams through out last week and this week, we believe in all our boys to carry out duty as trained for.” said Vaagahu Harper, Sia-Raga assistant coach. Will Sia-Raga keep the good moment and beat Yatel? Can Yatel finally win their first match in the league?

TAFEA vs GALAXY

The weekend ends with an enormous clash between Tafea and Galaxy. Tafea is the current leader with ten points in four matches while Galaxy did not win their last two matches (drew against Erakor and lost to Sia-Raga). Galaxy really needs to recover the table and they know the importance of having a good result against Tafea – “We are working hard to improve and correct our mistakes […] We did not manage to score against Sia-Raga” – said brazilian player Gabriel. Kensi Tangis, current leader topscorer with eight goals in four matches got injured last weekend and he may not play. This match is also important for Ifira Black Bird because they have the possibility of taking the league’s lead. Tafea’s manager Robert Calvo also knows the importance of this match for them and pointed: “Every team plays to win. But the priority will be not losing this game to keep the little margin to Galaxy we have on the table. As we know, Galaxy is the favourite to win the league but the matches between Tafea, Erakor, Ifira, Tupuji and Galaxy will determine Premier League’s outcome because all these team are at a similar level this season”.

Oceania Football Center wishes good luck to all teams!

Solomon Islands 0-8 Mexico: a performance analysis

Solomon Islands played its last match in U17 World Cup against Mexico. Despite the 8-0 loss there are still some positive things to be said about this game. Oceania Football Center brings another performance analysis just like we did after the match against Paraguay.

As we said in the last performance analysis article, Solomon Islands had three big problems in the first two matches:
1- Through ball behind the full backs;
2- Crossing situations when players look at the ball and forget to look at the opponents;
3- Insisting on short passes in the defense

Solomon Islands really improved at these three issues to face Paraguay, specially in the first half. Derrick Taebo and Stanford Fakasori did a good job defending the Mexican wingers and they did not find too much space to play behind the full backs but they still managed to scored in these situations. Geseni and Ropa also did a competent job helping the full backs defensively.

The first goal of Mexico came from a long pass to the winger behind Taebo’s back:

Long ball behind Taebo led Mexico to score their first goal

And then he mastered the ball and crossed to Efraín Alvarez who was completely free between Solomon Islands’ defensive lines. Look at the huge space between the defenders and midfielders:

Too much space between the lines and Mexico scored

There were also some problems in the defensive line with through balls between the centre back and the full back and it can be clearly seen in the third goal:

Mexican player received the ball between Solomon Islands defenders

Defensive players also came up to this match more aware of the crossing problems they faced in the other matches so they really had a better performance defending Mexican crosses. But it was not enough to avoid the Mexican goals as you can check it below:

In Mexico sixth goal, the offensive player crosses and no one marks the Mexican player. Goalkeeper Davidson Malam tried to run and avoid the header but he missed the timing and ended failing.

The seventh goal also came from a marking failure in a crossing situation. Mexican forward was free to head the ball but he did not score. The goal happened after a 6-yard box scramble where Solomon Islands’ players did not manage to kick the ball forward.

The U17 still insisted on passsing the ball in the defense field but they were not afraid to kick the ball forward when necessary to avoid bigger problems. Javin Wae and Richie Kwaimamani really helped the team in the midfield so they could have a little more control of the ball but wrong passes in defense were a problem again.

A good example comes from Mexican second goal: After a wrong pass and a terrible defensive mistake, Solomon Islands defender fouled Mexican player. In the free kick the ball was shot directly to the goal and goalkeeper Davidson Malam could not hold it (but he should have caught the ball). His mistake culminated in the second Mexican goal.

The biggest problem against Mexico was the lack of physical preparation. Solomon Islands players were not fit enough to play 90 minutes so they got tired before their opponents. This tiredness led them to make some terrible individual mistakes in the second half, allowing Mexico to score as you can check in the eighth goal. Leon Kofana lost the ball to the opponent and then the Mexican player scored after dribbling the goalkeeper.

Kofana can not control the well the ball

And then he dribbles the goalkeeper to score

Despite the mistakes and the space between the lines, it was their best match offensively. Richie Kwaimamani, Geseni, Lea’i, Ropa and Limoki had the opportunity to run with the ball through Mexican defense and make some shots. The biggest opportunity came in the final minutes with a Leon Kofana shot defended by the Mexican goalkeeper.

They are very young players and they will surely improve. It was also a big experience for coaching staff and they need to be more aware of these situations. Anyway the biggest issue came from physical preparation. SIFF should care more about this if they want to have better results at world level. They should learn from Solomon Islands National Futsal Team that has a great physical preparation.

Benny Hungai: the international farewell of a legend

Vanuatu finished the OFC Futsal Nations Cup in the 6th place. This may not be a result to be celebrated but this tournament will be always remembered with some good memories by the fans: it was the last international competition played by Benny Hungai.

Hungai is greatest ni-van futsal player of all time. He is also the player with most caps (35 official matches) and the all time topscorer of Vanuatu National Futsal Team with 22 official goals scored in eleven years defending the Gideons. The team’s captain ends his brilliant career at international level with no regrets.

Hungai (number 5) with the Vanuatu’s squad for 2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup

Despite his retirement from National Team, he keeps on playing at club level for Huka Futsal Club. He has been playing futsal for almost twenty years. He first played for Era United Futsal Club back in 2002 and he was always involved with futsal or football since then.

With so many experience in futsal, Hungai told Oceania Football Center that the level of futsal in Oceania is increasing year by year. The first edition of OFC Futsal Champions League is expected to be held in New Zealand in December. When asked about Vanuatu Futsal League in comparison to other national leagues in Oceania he stated “The leagues in New Zealand, Tahiti and Solomon Islands are more competitive than Vanuatu’s. Court facilities are the main cause for this lack of competitiveness”. Hungai’s club Huka FC was the Vanuatu National Futsal Super League runner-up so the Vanuatu’s spot in OFC Futsal Champions League will be filled by D’York Street – the National League winners.

Most of futsal teams in Vanuatu train in grass fields because there is no futsal courts available for training. The difference of the floor obviously makes a big difference in the style of a futsal match and it harms the game’s quality. It is a clear obstacle for the sports’ development in the country “we need more futsal courts, more competition, more regional exposure”, said Hungai.

He retires from Vanuatu National Futsal Team but he leaves a huge legacy for the next generations in his country. Hungai will never be forgotten by ni-van people. He is a true legend of Oceanian Futsal!