After struggling to perform at his best, the Fijian star Roy Krishna seems that finally is back to his normal level of performance: scoring goals. The striker added another for Bengaluru in their impressive 3-0 away win over Jamshedpur – this is their third win in-a-row after a very disappointing stint in the most important football league from India. For Krishna, this is his second goal in his last two matches – as he returned to score in Bengaluru’s previous match against Odisha.
Krishna got involved in the first goal of his team, creating the play for a cross that ended up in the head of Rohit Kumar that scored the first for his team. At the 34th minute Krishna scored a thunderbolt from long-range to stun the goalkeeper; this is the third goal of the Fijian in the Super League this season.
Krishna celebrates his goal – ISL Media
In the second half Sivasakthi Narayanan added the third goal for Bengaluru to finish in style the game. Bengaluru now sits seventh in the table, just one point away from the playoff qualification zone.
Like other countries in Oceania, Tonga has a totally amateur football league, which makes it very difficult for players to get exposure to play abroad.
Even so, Tonga has relatively large communities in Australia and New Zealand, making it possible to find players with ancestry, such as AJ Inia, the first Tongan to play professional football.
But Tongan descendants are not only found in Australia and New Zealand. Alex Chin, for example, was born in Hong Kong to a Tongan mother. Since 2020, he has been playing professionally for South China in Hong Kong’s second tier after his time with top flight Tai Po.
Alex Chin
Oceania Football Center had the opportunity to talk to Chin about the possibility of him playing for the national team and he said that is a real possibility for him; “As I know in Tonga football is not popular, like it does not have a professional league“, said the player, “So i am willing to play for the country to improve the level of football“, completed Chin.
Alex Chin besides goalkeeper, he has also played this season as a center forward for South China; “Besides goalkeeper, I also train as an outfield player so I could play both, but I am primarily a goalkeeper“.
Alex Chin playing as a striker
Asked if he would like to play in the Pacific Games to be held in Honiara, Solomon Islands this year, Chin did not hesitate to answer that he would be available if called up.
Oceania Football Center have contacted the Tonga Football Association. It is expected the governing body contact Alex Chin to move forward to the paperwork to make him eligible for Tonga.
Roonui Tiniarauarii has been one of the best Tahitian strikers in recent years, always staying at the top of the Ligue 1 scoring charts alongside his national team partner, Teaonui Tehau.
And this season has been no different, the Polynesian Missionary had already scored 10 goals in AS Dragon’s 11-0 thrashing of AS Excelsior in the first round of Ligue 1, now he has again repeated the feat of scoring more than 10 goals in a single match.
It happened again this week when AS Dragon beat AS Jeunes Tahitiens 17-0, Roonui Tiniarauarii scored incredible 12 goals! Roonui is now the top scorer in Tahiti’s Ligue 1 with 32 goals – 10 more than Teaonui Tehau – distancing himself in the race for the league’s top scorer.
Roonui Tiniarauarii vs AS Jeunes Tahitiens – FTF Media
Dragon leads Ligue 1 season 2022/23 with 9 wins from 9 matches; six points ahead of Venus, the second-placed team in the national league.
The quarterfinals of the OFC U-17 Championship were decided this Wednesday – 18th January – after a draw by the Oceania Football Confederation.
New Zealand is the favourite to win the tournament once again – OFC Media
In the first leg of the quarterfinals New Caledonia will face Samoa in Suva on January 21st at 4pm local time; New Caledonia is the favourite to take the semifinal spot, but Samoa is certainly the biggest threat the Cagous could have, players like Newcastle Jets’ wonder boy Pharrell Trainor could surprise coach Leonardo Lopez’s team.
Tahiti and Tonga will also face each other in Suva on January 21st at 7pm local time; Tahiti is the overwhelming favorite to win, and of the teams apart New Zealand, they are the ones who have played the best football so far, and should have Keanan Faure back in the starting line-up after he was rested against Cook Islands. Tonga lost their two games so far – to see the Tongans proceed would be a major upset.
On January 22nd, Fiji takes on the Cook Islands at 4pm local time; Fiji is certainly the favorite to beat Cook Islands because it possesses more talent than its opponent, but it must be careful because the Cook Islands team led by coach Tahiri Elikana had shown in the match against Vanuatu that they can offer also be a threat to its opponents.
Next, at 7pm, New Zealand, who is the favorite to win the tournament and one of the spots for the U-17 World Cup, will face Vanuatu; New Zealand is the favourite to get past Vanuatu that has so far not impressed, a team that had a hard time against Cook Islands and was dominated by Tahiti.
All matches will be broadcast by streaming app Eleven Sports.
Fijians and Tongans needed to overcome the rain and wet pitch in Suva in the final match of the group stage of the U-17 OFC Championship. The Fijians were expected a massive victory over the minnows, but the weather was a fierce rival for the local side. Due to the rain, the match needed to be postponed – starting 45 minutes later than previously scheduled.
The Fijians took an early lead after a defensive blunder from the Tongan defence. Jacob Seninawanwana was gifted the ball inside the penalty box – just one touch was needed to put it back of the net to confirm the lead at the 8th minute.
Fijians celebrate their goal – OFC Media
Fiji continued to press up top, while Tonga proved to be a threat with the pace of its strikers in counter-attacks. The young talented Ibraheem Afazal tried a long-range finished that went close to the crossbar.
The wet surface made the game turn into a physical battle; the Tonga defence led by the captain Sione Talia’uli managed to deal well with Fijian attack – making a number of strong tackles and keeping the ball away from their penalty box.
A moment that could be a turning point into the game happend already in the final minutes of the first half: Sailimone Ravonokula received a second yellow-card after get involved in a brawl close to the corner flag. This was the first red card shown in the entire competition.
With the start of the second half, the heavy rain also followed it. What could be a chance for the Tongan team to make an upset rapidly turned into ashes: the Australian-based Ibraheem Afazal received a beautiful through pass from Waitisoni Batirerega – that came in as substitute at the halftime – and placed it well at the bottom right corner of the goalkeeper Siosuia Moimoi.
The wet pitch, the inability to exchange passes and the tiredness of both teams not allowed much more goalscoring chances to be created. The second half was marked by a number of late challenges, commited fouls and yellow cards for both sides.
When the game was already close to its final whistle, Waitisoni Batirerega managed to give another assist; this time his cross found Prashant Kumar in the box that headed it home to score Fiji’s third goal in the clash. The final score ended up in favour of the Fijians: 3-0.
Despite losing, Tonga also proceeded to the quarterfinals of the tournament: according to the draw realised by OFC, they will meet Tahiti in the next stage; Fiji takes on the Cook Islands.
Raphael Lea’i is having another very good chance – maybe the best of all he had – to sign professional deal – as recently explained by Oceania Football Center. The young striker from Solomon Islands already landed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and joined 1st-tier club FK Velež Mostar for a period of trainings – Lea’i will use the facilities of the Mostar-based team in order to prepare for his trial in the Turkey’s top-tier club Alanyaspor.
Lea’i wearing FK Velež Mostar colours
Oceania Football Center talked to Henderson Eels representantive Wakio Tareina’a that kindly provided more information regarding the situation of Lea’i stay in Europe. Tareina’a confirmed that the 19 year-old striker will only stay in Mostar to prepare for the trial: “The initial aim is to train in Bosnia before trial in Turkey” he said, but he also mentioned a ‘Plan B’ in case of the things do not go as planed in Turkey: “In that case if any club in Bosnia get interest in him then he can sign with them”, completed Tareina’a.
It is expected that Lea’i train around to one or two months in Mostar before heading to his trial – that has not a fixed date as confirmed by Henderson Eels’ Tareina’a. The fans might get intrigued on why Lea’i is training exactly in Bosnia and Herzegovina not somewhere else, the situation is also explained by Eels’ chairman: “A member of the coaching staff of FK Velež Mostar is the responsible for arranging the trials for Raphael in Turkey“. It is also known the agent wanted Raphael Lea’i to be fully prepared for the trials, that’s why he is using the facilities of the club to get ready.
Oceania Football Center will continue following the development of the Lea’i’s trials.
No National Soccer League football will be played this Wednesday (18th Jan) in Papua New Guinea. The semifinals stage are postponed and they are expected to be played next Saturday (21th Jan) in different venues than announced before by the PNG Football Association and stated by Oceania Football Center.
According to sources inside the governing body, the matches were rescheduled to cut expenses; as before stated by PNGFA in social media the both semifinal matches would take place in Port Moresby at PNG Football Stadium.
Match of the quarterfinals of NSL between Paguna Metals and Hekari United – PNGFA Media
Now, in order to cut expenses, the matches will take place in two venues – one in Lae and another in Port Moresby. As two teams based in Lae (Lae Natives and Lae City) were draw in one of the semifinal matches, both sides will play in Lae. The same happened in the other semifinal – two Port Moresby (Gulf Komara and Hekari United) teams were draw and then they will play this decisive match in the capital city.
This is not the first time the governing body of football in Papua New Guinea postpones the decisive matches of the National Soccer League. The quarterfinals were twice postponed last year, forcing the decisive games of the national league to played in 2023 – meaning the 2022 edition of the most important football competition of the country will finish in the following year.
A product of Royals Football Academy in Solomon Islands is currently based in the Middle East; the Solomon Islands’ international striker Ali Mekawir is currently playing in United Arab Emirates after a spell in Australia’s National Premier League side Adelaide City – where he played a total of nine games. The striker, who represented the Solomon Islands in age group tournaments as well in the OFC 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Tournament, is currently attached to TFA Dubai – an academy that presents itself as ”specialized pathways for athletes to go professional” in its social media account.
TFA Dubai is not just only a football academy – as its name says “The Football Academy” – they also have a team that is currently playing in the 4th-tier of football in UAE. Mekawir is being active throught the season since he arrived in the country last October.
Ali Mekawir with his new team colours – UAE FA
The striker that represented his country already twice, played a total of 280 minutes across five matches for TFA Dubai team – he is still to score a goal for his new club. The 22-year-old already recorded some special moments in his carrer, as scoring in the English FA Cup for Langley Wanderers in the 2020/21 season.
The New Caledonians expected to bounce back from the 3-2 defeat they had against New Zealand in their first match in the competition. American Samoa knew they would have all the odds against them. As expected, New Caledonia started up on top, the impressive Hienghène’s young-star Nolhann Alebate had the first clear chance of the game – he missed an one-on-one situation against American Samoa’s goalkeeper Alex Mae’e putting the ball sideways the goal. But still at the 4th minute, Alebate opened the scoreline in favour of his side after a smart cross from the wing-back Ronald Ngayane.
Nolhann Alebate was a constant threat for American Samoa – OFC Media
American Samoa was unable to create goalscoring chances through passing combinations, then so their set pieces proved to be dangerous to the New Caledonians. First, the team captain Johnica Collins crossed the ball to the area, after a defensive blunder Ben Tofaeono took the ball already in the penalty box, but his finish went side-netting. Minutes later, the same Collins tried a long-range free-kick shot, the ball went past the goalkeeper but it ended up hitting the crossbar.
Alex Mae’e kept his nets clean for a long period, making a number good stops. But at the 27th minute Anthony Levy scored from the penalty spot after an unfortunate handball inside the penalty area – offence commited by Robert Coulter.
The team coached by Leonardo Lopez could only score twice in the first half – but their final 45 minutes proved to be much better. At the 58th minute Simon Ue counted on the mistake of Alex Mae’e to score the third for his country – the goalkeeper went to easy to catch the ball. Eight minutes later David Cahma added another for his country, the fourth, and just five minutes later it was the turn of Jean-Yves Saïko to score. To finish the game for New Caledonia, Lopez added the pacy striker Sipane Qaeze – adding more two goals, one at the 68th minute and another at the 70th minute. The final score: New Caledonia 7-0 American Samoa.
With this impressive win, the New Caledonia youngsters booked their flights to Suva to the quarterfinals while American Samoa still have very little chances to proceed – but for this Tonga will need to concede at least 12 goals to Fiji this Wednesday (18th Jan).
VANUATU vs COOK ISLANDS
If the team coached by the Brazilian Emerson Alcantara expected an easy match against Cook Islands, they proved to be very wrong. The Ni-Vanuatu side needed to fight hard to confirm their spot in the quarterfinals.
Despite the hard match it was, the first minute of the game seemed that Vanuatu would have an easy match: Augustine Chilia scored into the the first minute of the game – exactly at the 36′ seconds. The talented Jimmy Moso got the ball and found the No. 10 Chilia free in the box to just chip it over the goalkeeper Teina Ngametua.
The Ni-Vanuatu side continued to create a number of scoring chances – even hitting the post in one situation. As they failed to add another, it was the Cook Islands who had the chance – and they took it: after goalkeeper Jospeh Nakiou left his goal to prevent Tione Nand from picking the ball up and letting it slip away, the ball offered itself to Jeremiah Williams, the Auckland United midfielder flicked it over the goalkeeper to tie the game.
The half-time scoreline ended-up tied – but just after both teams returned to the pitch Vanuatu took the lead again. This time it was Jimmy Moso, the attacker controlled the ball with one foot and finished with the other – the ball still touched the post and went in to the nets of goalkeeper Ngametua.
As Vanuatu took the lead the team took control of the game; a lot of fifty-fifty battles in the midfield marked the rest of the second half. Vanuatu created good chances, but the best remaining chance of the game was in favour of the Cook Islands: Juleo Tauu had a close-range free-kick to take, but it ended up hitting the wall.
Vanuatu players celebrate the win – Vanuatu Sport
Vanuatu confirmed their 2-1 win and a spot in the quarterfinals; and the same can be said for the Cook Islands. Despite two losses, the team might qualify as one of the two-best third places in the tournament. Just one team of the nine taking part in the tournament will leave in the group stage – Cook Islands conceded less goals than American Samoa in the Group A, it means at leas the second-best 3rd placed-side they will take. Both teams await the final of the group stage to know which side they will play in the quarterfinals stage.
Fiji has a new wonderkid; he hails from Ba and represents the most victorious district of Fijian football. The 18 year-old striker Nabill Begg is already a regular striker for the Men in Black and already scored a number of important goals for his team.
Certainly, the most important goal of the young talented player was last year when he helped the U-20 Fiji team to qualify for the 2023 U-20 FIFA World Cup – he scored the winning goal for Fiji in the semifinal march against New Caledonia, sealing the spot for Fiji to play their second-ever U-20 World Cup edition.
Nabill Begg
In interview to Oceania Football Center, the talented striker mentioned important news to Ba and Fijian football fans: as the Fijian football transfer window goes on, Begg stated for the local fans: “I am planning to stay in Ba, it is my hometown“, said the youngster – “there were some local teams that approached me, I can not disclose its names, but I decided to stay in my hometown“, completed Begg.
Although Begg is staying this season in Ba, the striker mentioned he plans to leave Fijian football to play overseas: “I received an offer from New Zealand. There’s a verbal agreement and I am just waiting the final or World Cup to move abroad“, stated the young player.
Begg will be one of the key players for Fiji in the U-20 World Cup to be played in Indonesia from May to June. After participating in the tournament, Begg may join an overseas-based club as stated.
As a final message for his fans, Begg mentioned: “I ask the fans to have trust in us, the young boys. We will give everything we have thus upcoming season“, said the 18 year-old.
Oceania Football Center 