Oceania Football Center

Solomon Warriors very close to retake Telekom S-League title

One of the Solomon Islands powerhouse football clubs is set to return to its glory days this Sunday (Feb 12th) at Lawson Tama Stadium; the Solomon Warriors just need a draw against the struggling Waneagu United to confirm its Telekom S-League title of the 2022 national league season.

After impressive results in the past matches including wins over Honiara City and Real Kakamora, the most succesful club of the country is set confirm its favouritism and retake the trophy of the Telekom S-League. – the last time the team won the national league was back in the 2019-20 season. The closest team to Warriors in the table currently is Kossa FC and wasted a chance to keep in contention of the title as they suffered a heavy defeat against the strong team of Henderson Eels by 6-0 – Adrian Mara scored a hattrick for Eels in this encounter.

Solomon Warriors players before a TSL match – *Theodore Inomae*

As recently mentioned in an interview to Oceania Football Center, one of the most important players of Warriors, Dennis Ifunaoa, the biggest goals of the season for the team are to confirm the S-League title and take a spot in the OFC Champions League group stage.

The battle for the second place – that’s currently hot between Kossa and Henderson Eels that separated by just one point in the table – is set to decide which team will take on Warriors in the OFC Champions League national play-offs in order to determine which team will represent Solomon Islands in the regional tournament. Currently, the Warriors just rely on themselves to achieve the title, although a second-place in the league is already confirm – thus an entry to the O-League play-offs as well.

Top-class goal by Roy Krishna gives Bengaluru crucial win in Indian Super League

Roy Krishna is definitely back to his normal form; the Fijian football star scored a marvelous goal in the 1-0 win of his side Bengaluru against Kerala Blasters for the Indian Super League. As the league is getting close to its crunch time, the experienced striker is returning to show his class after a long period of drought of goals.

Krishna scored the winner for his side still in the first half, after a brilliant solo effort play as he passed one defender, let the goalkeeper in the ground and placed the ball calmly into the nets. You can watch the goal by clicking here.

Krishna celebrates his goal – *Focus Sports*

Bengaluru is now ranked 5th in the table of the most important Indian football league; the club is battling for a spot in the play-offs as Goa FC and Odisha are just behind them in the rankings – just one points separate the three sides. The best six teams proceed to the play-offs.

This is the sixth win in a row for Krishna’s side; the striker scored his fifth goal of the campaign – and certainly the most beautiful of those so far. The Fijian is returning to his good football days as he’s been an important part of the recovery of the team coached by Englishman Simon Grayson.

Tiga beats Hienghène in first leg of OFC Champions League play-offs in New Caledonia

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The national round of the OFC Champions League started this weekend; in Papua New Guinea Hekari United pulled ahead of Lae City and in New Caledonia the national champions Tiga Sport emerged victorious over former OFC Champions League winner Hienghène Sport.

The team coached by Leonardo Lopez took the field of Stade Numa Daly in Nouméa as the current Super Ligue champions of New Caledonia, but they had a tough opponent ahead; with the likes of Roy Kayara, Bertrand Kaï and Cedrick Sansot, Hyehen was ready to make things difficult for the Tokanod – that could not count on the top-scorer Lues Waya that recently signed for Laval in France.

Tiga players celebrate one of their goals – *Allain Vartane*

Already at the 5th minute of play, Jean-Jacques Bearuné took the lead for Tiga as he received the ball in the box and with a placed-finish went past Rocky Nyikeine to score the first for the red-and-white side. But Hienghène Sport managed to equalise early: after a corner, the defence of Tiga managed to clear the ball, but another cross was made to the box: the tall Cedrick Sansot tried to reach ball, fell, but still in the ground the ball offered itself for the midfield that managed to get a volley direct to the nets of Tiga Sport.

The striker Jimmy Welepane put Tiga ahead once again; still in the 18th minute mark the striker was found free in the penalty box, after poor marking of Hienghène defensive system. The striker made no mistake in front of the nets and put his upfront in the race.

Hienghène pushed for another equaliser, but it was Tiga who found the nets once again through David Bearuné; in another defensive blunder of Hienghène, the players waited for an offside call, but as it did not happen, Bearuné took the ball, passed two defenders and with a clinical finish put the ball at the top corner of Nyikeine to add another and give final numbers to the match in favour of the Tiga Island-based side: 3-1. You can watch the highlights of the game by clicking here.

The team coached by Félix Tagawa will need to produce much better football in the second leg of the round if they want once again to take part of the group stage of the OFC Champions League – tournament they won back in 2019. Tiga Sport is heading for their first ever appearance in the group stage if they manage to defend their advantage taken in the first leg.

OFC Champions League: Hekari United takes advantage on Lae City FC

The first matches of the national play-offs round of OFC Champions League started this weekend; in Papua New Guinea the current national champions Lae City FC could not take advantage of the home crowd and suffered a 2-1 defeat of Hekari United.

The current champions, that earned their 7th title in a row last weekend, even started the game upfront after a goal scored by Albert Morgan Jr – the striker was found free in the penalty box and just tapped-it home to the nets of Dave Tomare.

But in the second half the story of the game changed: the young striker Joseph Joe received the ball after a corner-kick and was able to control, turn it and slash a powerful shot that found the top corner of Lae City’s goalkeeper.

Hekari United celebrates the winning goal – *Hekari United Media*

At the 60th minute, just ten minutes later of Joe’s equaliser, it was the turn of the talented midfielder Yagi Yasasa to just tap-it it to the nets of Ronald Warisan; the player was free in the penalty box after a solo effort play by Rex Naime. The rebound offered itself after being saved by Warisan to Yasasa and he made no mistake to put the former OFC Champions League champions ahead of Hekari at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium.

The Port Moresby-based side managed to control Lae until the final whistle and grabbed a very important win away from home – you can watch the highlights of the match by clicking here. Lae City will need to step-up at Sir John Guise Stadium in PNG’s capital city if they want to once again take part of the group stage of the Champions League.

Rewa: Solomon Islands’ football stars ready for ‘CVC’ final

The Champion vs Champion series will be played this Sunday (Feb 11th) in Fiji; Suva and Rewa will face-off to decide the first team to lift a trophy in Fiji this new season. Rewa recently announced the signing of two key players of Solomon Islands national team, they are the midifelders Alvin Hou and Atkin Kaua, the players are a very intersting boost to the already very strong squad of the Delta Tigers.

The duo could not play the first match of the series, the game was forced to an early end due the heavy rains that hit Nausori. The Fiji FA decided to not restart the match, awarding a 0-0 result – the result the game had when it was interrupted. It means the real final of the series will be this Sunday – the winner is going to start the season on a high and Rewa will be able to count on the quality of Hou and Kaua.

Alvin Hou and Atkin Kaua playing for Solomon Islands

The info was confirmed by Rewa’s chairman Nazeel Buksh to Oceania Football Center: “Both of them are eligible and available for the game” said Buksh. Both of the Solomon Islanders were in the team that played the decisive match and lost against New Zealand last year for a spot in the FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off – where New Zealand got beaten by Costa Rica who earned themselves a spot in the last edition of the World Cup.

The match will be held at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva at 3 pm along with the women’s inaugural CVC match between Ba and Labasa which will be played at 1 pm.

New Caledonia’s Jekob Jeno back in action in France

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Like the legend Georges Gope-Fenepej who plays for Concarneau in the National (third tier), Jekob Jeno is one of two neo-Caledonians who play in the top-three divisions of French football.

The last time Jeno had played for Grenoble had been in the Ligue 2 defeat to Metz on December 30th, he had started the season as a starter, but some injuries hindered his progress.

Now last January 8th he played for the first time in 2023 after being on the bench for a few matches – Jeno joined in the 79th minute in Grenoble’s 1-0 win against Vierzon FC in the French Cup round of 16. With the qualification Grenoble will face giants Lyon in the next knockout round.

This season Jekob Jeno has played 11 matches; 560 minutes in total for Grenoble. Jeno’s side is doing well this season as they are battling for promotion to French top-tier league; Grenoble is currently ranked 4th in the process, just two points behind Bordeaux that is ranked 3rd.

VFF Champions League grand final is postponed; players unhappy with the decision

Recently, Oceania Football Center reported that the VFF Champions League final is set for its grand final match – at first, the decisive encounter between Luganville’s Sia Raga and Port Vila’s Ifira Black Bird was scheduled to be played this Saturday (11th Feb) at the new VFF Freshwater Stadium, but the most important football tournament of the country will need to wait a bit more to know its champion.

But this Friday (10th Feb) – at the eleventh hour – VFF issued a statement postponing the grand final due bad conditions on the surface of the new stadium: “The Local Organising Committee of the VFF Champions League 2023 has decided to postpone the final matches to Tuesday 14 February 2023, due to the impact of the current rainy weather“, said the entity, “VFF General Secretary and Chairman of the LOC Albert Manaroto explains that with the ongoing recovery and maintenance work at the Korman Stadium, and the need to allow Freshwater VFF Stadium to dry up, it is for the best interest for the finalists and football fans that the finals are played on dry football grounds. At the same time Mr. Manaroto says they have approached the Sports Commission, and have understood the explanations from the Commission to give time for preparing the Korman Stadium“, added the Vanuatu Football Federation.

A semifinal match of the tournament played at VFF Freshwater Stadium – *VFF Media*

Surprisingly, VFF stated the third-place match contest between Arato FC and Wings FC will be played at Korman Stadium – the biggest stadium in Vanuatu – and the final at Freshwater: “Manaroto says the finals will still be played at Korman and at the VFF Stadium at Fresh Water. He says the Third Place final between Aratoro FC of Penama FA and Wings FC of Tafea FA, will be played at Korman Stadium starting at 12pm. And the grand final between Sia Raga FC of LFA and Ifira Black Birds of PVFA, will be played at the Fresh Water VFF Stadium starting at 5pm.

Some players of the participating teams complained about the late change of the tournament organisation: “We were focused to the game, changing the time it is going to affect our focus and preparation“, said one player that is set to play the grand final match. “The pitch at Freshwater is too bad after the rain. It would be certainly better if we play the final at Korman Stadium”, said another key player of one of the finalists – “We did not want the games to be postponed, VFF organisation did not have a Plan B, they did not talk to the teams, they made things by their own“, added the player.

Despite the reactions, no new facts were added to the case as the both matches are now scheduled for the next Tuesday (14th Feb), to be played in separated venues but still in the national capital.

Veitongo celebrates national title in Tonga

Veitongo continues its dominance in Tongan football; recently the most succesful football club from the Kingdom of Tonga celebrated once again a national title in Nuku’alofa. The team will once again represent the country at the OFC Champions League as they hammered Navutoka in the final match of the national league – a comprehensive 9-1 victory.

Veitongo was dominant throughout the entire season of football in Tonga and celebrated a well deserved title after an impressive win over Navutoka.

After the final game of the season. the team coached by Timote Moleni not received only the national league trophy, but as well some of its players were highlighted and received individual prizes. Hemaloto Polovili was the top-scorer of the league and as well earned himself the prize of the best player of the season; Semisi Otukolo was awarded the best goalkeeper of the season.

Both Polovili and Otukolo are senior members of Tonga national team; Veitongo counts on many players on the age groups and senior national teams of Tonga, reaffirming its dominance in the Tongan football scenario.

OFC Champions League: National Play-offs are coming!

The national stage of the upcoming 2023 edition of the most important club football tournament of Oceania is very close – the national play-offs of the OFC Champions League are going to be played throught this February and March. The next Saturday (11th Feb) mark the start of the competition as the national play-offs are going to be played in Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia.

Lae City and Hekari United will meet in Lae – *SokaPNG*

After a thrilling grand final match of the PNG National Soccer League last weekend, both Hekari United and Lae City FC will play each other again. This time the first leg will be played at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium and in the following weekend the decisive match at Sir John Guise Stadium, Port Moresby – the winner will guarantee an entry in the group stage of the regional tournament.

Also this Saturday the former OFC Champions League winners Hienghène Sport will start their local battle against current Super Ligue champions Tiga Sport. Both matches of the contest will be played in New Caledonia’s capital city Nouméa, despite the protests of Hienghène that wanted to host a match in Koné at Stade Yoshida.

On 17th Feb the Tahitians of AS Piraé and AS Vénus will kick-off the national play-off at Stade Pater, Papeete. In the following weekend the two sides meet again, again at Stade Pater, to decide the Tahitian’s representative. The contest for the spot in Fiji will between Rewa and Suva – starting on 23th Feb. On 22th Feb Sia Raga FC and Ifira Black Bird from Vanuatu will start their contest at VFF Freshwater Stadium, in the same day it is expected the play-offs in Solomon Islands also start – but the two teams to take part are still to be confirmed. New Zealand will be the last nation to confirm its representative in the tournament as the title holders Auckland City will kick-off the two-legged play-off against Wellington Olympic on 11th March.

The seven winners of the play-offs will join the winner of the OFC Champions League Qualifying tournament, that is also to be held this February in Apia, Samoa. Teams from American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga will take part in the competition. The centralised tournament will count on eight teams separated in two groups, the top-two teams of each group proceed to the semifinals and then the grand final.

“I am born and raised in Vanuatu”; Brian Kaltak features on ABC Australia show

he Vanuatu national team captain Brian Kaltak is definitely making his mark in Australian football; one of the best performers of the brilliant campaign so far of the Central Coast Mariners, Kaltak earned himself another milestone as he appeared on Australian Broadcasting Corporation show ‘That Pacific Sports Show‘. The defender was interview and talked about his long journey to turn into a professional football player – since his days on Erakor Golden Star back in his homecountry. The 29-year-old also explained his feelings when he returned to Vanuatu this january when Central Coast Mariners made a tour in his country, training, visiting communities and also having friendly matches.