Oceania Football Center

New Caledonia’s top-talent Lues Waya signs pro-contract in France

One of the most talented players from New Caledonia spent the last months in France seeking for an opportunity to sign a pro-deal; the striker Lues Waya was under trials with Ligue 1 side FC Nantes for a number of weeks, then recently started trials with Stade Lavallois.

The Cagous striker has now finally signed a pro-contract – he will integrate the second team of Stade Lavallois, as reported by New Caledonia Football Federation. “Lues has joined the Laval Training Centre, joining eleven other members of the pro reserve team“, explained Christophe Coursimault, former New Caledonia coach, winner of the Pacific Games in 2011 and now the relay of the New Caledonian Football Federation in mainland France, as part of a federal project to support, strengthen and structure the elite of New Caledonian football.

“Former striker of AS Wetr – club where Waya started his career – and then of Tiga Sport, with whom the Tokanod-born player revealed himself as the rising star of Cagou football, Lues Waya joins the National 3 group of STADE LAVALLOIS MAYENNE FOOTBALL CLUB, a historical club of French football“, endorsed the FCF.

The National 3, the 5th-tier of football in France, can be the start of a rapid rise for the 21-year-old striker that won the golden boot of the last New Caledonian Super Ligue and also earned himself the prize of the best player of the national league. Depending on the performances of the striker in the second team he can surely rise to Laval’s first team that is currently playing in the second-tier of French football.

Vanuatu: VFF Champions League final is set

The most important club football tournament of Vanuatu is set to an end this Saturday (11th Feb) in Port Vila. The champions of each the eight member associations that made up the Vanuatu Football Federation – all six provinces of the country plus Port Vila and Luganville MA’s – are taking part of the tournament that started last 1st Feb having the brand-new Freswota Stadium in the national capital as its venue.

The Port Vila FA champions Ifira Black Bird and Luganville FA champions Sia Raga dominated both groups; Wings FC from Tafea FA and and Arato FC from Penama FA also managed to qualify for the semifinal matches of the tournamet. The other four teams that were knocked-out of the competition in the first stage were Patvuti from Sanma FA, Rainbow FC from Torba FA, Eraniao FC from Shefa FA and Police FC from Malampa FA.

Ifira Black Bird (up) and Sia Raga FC (down) will decide the winner of the tournament – *VFF Media*

Sia Raga FC was the first side to confirm their spot in the grand final after an emphatic 8-2 victory over Arato FC; later it was Ifira BB that surpassed Wings FC, bu they needed to fight hard in order to confirm their presence in the final as they won the Tafea FA representatives by 2-1.

The representatives of the two biggest cities in the country will face-off this weekend to determine which of the two sides will celebrate national glory. Still this month both teams will need to play again, this time for the OFC Champions League Qualifying play-offs, to decide which of those will represent Vanuatu in the regional tournament.

Serritslev departs; Fiji FA starts process to hire new head coach for the Bula Boys

The Fiji Football Association starts once again its process to find a new head coach for the men’s national team; the experienced coach from Denmark Flemming Serritslev – that conceded an exclusive interview to Oceania Football Center – is set to depart from the coaching position as the Fiji FA advertised the spot Flemming was occupying. The contract of the 75-year-old coach experienced last 31st January.

“We did negotiate for an extension but I think he needed to go and consult his family and rest. As for the Immigration requirements, we need to advertise again and hopefully, we get someone very quick“, said Fiji FA CEO Mohammed Yusuf to local media – the Fiji FA’s CEO also stated that if the Danish coach wants to return to the spot he will need to re-apply and go through all selection process. Yusuf also stated that it is expected a new coach is hired before March as the Bula Boys have two friendly matches scheduled against Solomon Islands and Vanuatu in the next March’s FIFA window.

Serritslev was the head coach for Fiji in the last FIFA World Cup Qualifying tournament, where Fiji failled to progress from the group stage – after being beaten by New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Although, the Fijians managed to beat New Caledonia, not enough to make them grant a spot in the semifinal stage.

The coach is very well-known in Oceania especially for guiding Papua New Guinea to the 2016 OFC Nations Cup grand final match; the then team coached by Serritslev ended up losing for New Zealand on the penalty shootout after a thrilling 0-0 draw after 120 minutes of football.

Tahiti: AS Dragon continues as at the top of Ligue 1 as first round of the season comes to an end

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AS Dragon’s 8-1 win over AS Pueu on Saturday – January 28th – concluded the Dragons’ perfect first-half of the season in Ligue 1 in Tahiti with a record of 11 wins from 11 matches, with a powerful attack that scored incredible 64 goals – including results such as 17-0 against AS Jeunes Tahitiens and 11-0 against Excelsior. Diego Arañeda coached-side team has 44 points on the table.

AS Dragon celebrating the victory against AS Tefana – *Christophe Fotozz*

The second-ranked side is AS Vénus with 38 points, coached by the man who is in charge of the national team and the current OFC Champions League finalists – Samuel Garcia -, having lost the title to Auckland City. Defending champions AS Piraé stands third in the table followed by AS Tefana.

The scoring table reflects well the scenario of the competition, Roonui Tiniarauarii is the leader of the goalscoring list with 35 goals scored followed by Teaonui Tehau who scored 27.

Tahiti’s Ligue 1 standings after the first 11 rounds:

1. AS Dragon – 44 points
2. AS Vénus – 38 points
3. AS Pirae – 36 points
4. AS Tefana – 34 points
5. AS Temanava – 29 points
6. AS Punaruu – 28 points
7. AS Central – 24 points
8. AS Pueu – 22 points
9. AS Tairapu – 21 points
10. AS Jeunes Tahitiens – 17 points
11. AS Excelsior – 14 points
12. AS Olympic Mahina – 13 points

It is important to mention that the league system of the national league in Tahiti is different from the one normally adopted in the rest of the world – the winner of the match gets four points while the loser gets one, the tie is two points for each team.

The champions and the runner-up will guarantee a spot in the 2024 OFC Champions League qualifying play-off.

Fijian U-20’s squad member signs for English club

Oliver McFadyen was one of the talents that the Fiji FA recruited playing overseas as well as Peter Ravai, Aydin Mustahib, Caleb Prasad among others to make up the Fijian U-19 squad for last year’s OFC U-19 Championship. Born in Manchester, England the 19-year-old forward is eligible to play for Fiji due his grandfather – John McFadyen – who is a native of Suva. He even played a friendly before the U-19 Championship against New Zealand, but did not participate in the tournament in Tahiti for still unknown reasons.

The attacker had stints at Fleetwood and Stockport County youth teams – Oliver McFadyen will now play for Runcorn Linnets FC of the the Northern Premier League Division One West, the 8th division of English football. Like Scott Wara who plays for Leek Town, Oli is another Fijian player who will play in the eighth tier of English football.

He has already made his debut for his new club this last Tuesday 7th – after being announced by the Linnets on the 6th – in the victory against Skelmersdale United. He played 73 minutes, score the first and assisted for second goal – his performance in his debut earned him the Player of the Match award given by his new club, Runcorn Linnets.

McFadyen on U-19 Fiji national team training camp – Fiji FA

Oli McFadyan is expected to be with Fiji’s squad at the U-20 World Cup in Indonesia in May of this year. The Oceania Football Center wishes the youngster success in this next journey of his career.

Good performances of Raphael Lea’i in his first friendly matches after signing for Velež Mostar

The Solomon Islands superstar Raphael Lea’i is enjoying his first minutes as a pro-player; his new club FK Velež Mostar from Bosnia and Herzegovina is now on a camp in Antalya, Turkey. The striker arrived late in the camp, but already took part in two friendly matches of the club – against Lithuanian national champions FK Žalgiris and Romanian side CS Minaur BM.

The Solomon Islands entered in the second half of the match against FK Žalgiris and played an important role: “Raphael Lea’i also played an important role in that winning action. He ran into the space, kept the ball, played a pass and in the following action scored a goal“, reported Sun Sports – “He is always in some good-looking position that smells of a good opportunity and a goal. Its fast, penetrating, and inconvenient to keep” it was added about his first game against the Lithuanian champions that ended up in a 1-0 win in favour of FK Velež Mostar. You can watch the highlights of this match by clicking here.

Against the Romanians of CS Minaur BM, Lea’i played the entire match and always a threat to the defensive system of the opponent team, mainly player as winger for his new club outfit. “Raphael Ohanua Lea’i (player from the Solomon Islands) also plays in the Mostar attack, a celebrity on his island, who arrived in Turkey only 3 days ago, because only then did the Bosnians solve his visa“, said Romanian media about Rapha‘s participation in the match. You also can watch the higlights of this match by clicking here.

Lea’i and his club still have one more match to be played in Turkey before returning to Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina: they will be playing Ukranian top-tier side FK Minaj. The first official duty of the club this year will be against HŠK Posušje for the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup, competition that Velež Mostar is the current title holder.

Roy Krishna scores winner against his former club as Bengaluru continues impressive run

Roy Krishna‘s Bengaluru FC entered the top-six after an impressive win over ATK Mohun Bagan this Sunday (05th Feb); Krishna scored what proved to be the winner goal for his side. The Fijian striker returned to Kolkata, but this time to haunt his former club and give important three points for his new club.

Roy Krishna was failing to impress in his new club; but since then the former Wellington Phoenix man ended a 10-goal drought and was directly involved in four goals in the last four games for his team – scoring three and assisting once. Last weekend against Mohun Bagan nothing was different for Krishna: the striker took his opportunites and scored after a goalkeeper’s fumble at the 91th minute. You can watch the goal by clicking here.

At that moment, Bengaluru was already winning by 1-0 the match thanks to a goal scored by the Spanish midfielder Javi Hernandez. The Australian attacker Dmitri Petratos still managed to pull one back for Mohun Bagan, but this was too late for a comeback.

The Bangalore-based side collected their fifth consecutive win after a very poor stint of results in the Indian Super League; now the team coached by Simon Grayson is ranked 6th in the process, inside the playoff qualification-zone for the post-season in the most important Indian football league.

David Browne’s contract with Finnish giants HJK expires

After having the best season of his career it was expected that David Browne would renew his contract that expired at the end of 2022 with HJK in Finland – but that did not happen. There is still a chance that Browne will re-sign with HJK, but it doesn’t likely to happen, as most football sites already mention the player as a free agent. The winger – that really impressed in his past season – might even have a deal with a new club in horizon, but informations are still unknown.

The 27-year-old Papua New Guinea player ends his stint with the Finnish giants with 103 appearances, 13 goals scored and 18 assists. He helped the team to win three Finnish national league titles (2020/21/22) and a one-time Finnish Cup winner (2020). At the club David Browne became the first Papua New Guinea-born player in history to play and score in a UEFA competition.

Oceania Football Center wishes the best of luck for David Browne in the next chapter of his career as we do follow closely the development of his game – expecting him to sign a pro-deal very soon.

Brian Kaltak sees controversial red-card as Mariners are defeated by Sydney FC

Ni-Vanuatu superstar Brian Kaltak saw his second red-card of his A-League season after a controversial foul this Saturday (04th Feb) in an encounter of his Central Coast Mariners against Sydney FC. His team was, at the moment, in an 1-1 draw away from home with one-man advantage, but Mariners were reduced to the 10-men just five minutes later Sydney FC’s defender Rhyan Grant was sent-off.

The match’s referee understood Kaltak denied a clear goalscoring chance by fouling Sydney FC’s attacker, thus showing a direct red-card to the Vanuatu international. This was the same offence that Grant commited five minutes before to also see a red-card.

Fans in social media argued with the decision – some understanding the situation, but mostly saying the ‘referee ruined the game’. Indeed, the decision was a bit controversial as the attacking player did not seem to be in a clear opportunity chance of goal. You can see the video of the play by clicking here.

Still in the first half, Mariners managed to pull upfront with a goal scored by Jason Cummings, but with a bad performance in the final 45 minutes of the game, Mariners conceded twice and allowed Sydney FC to comeback and register a 3-2 home win. Mariners are still in good form, but they need to improve in their next matches if they want to keep at the top-of-the table – they are currently ranked 3rd in the process.

Fiji: Champion vs Champion series interrupted and postponed

The kick-off of competitive football in Fiji was under heavy rain in Nausori this Sunday (05th Feb). Both Suva and Rewa sides were ready for the first leg of the Champion vs Champion series at Ratu Cakobau Park. The match was interrupted at the half-time as the rain, this time, won the game.

Both teams were locked into a 0-0 draw after the first 45 minutes of play; both sides were only with 10-men at the break as Suva’s Inoke Turagalailai and Rewa’s Patrick Joseph were sent-off.

The pitch at Ratu Cakobau Park, Nausori – *Fiji FA Media*

The referee still waited more 30 minutes expecting the rain to calm down, but unfortunately the match needed to be postponed indeed. The Fijian FA already issue an statement about the case: “Due to unplayable ground condition the second half match of the Pillay Garments Champion vs Champion series between Suvav FC and Rewa FC has been postponed. A decision on when the game will be played will be decided by Fiji FA on Tuesday. Meanwhile all ticket holders are requested to keep their ticket for entry on the day the match will played. Any inconvenience caused is regretted“, said the FFA.